THE FIRST MORNING: An African Myth

by Margery & Janet Kobrin--Adapts. Bernstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 1976

From the teaching pair who retold (in 1974) a series of North American Indian legends for beginning readers, a brisk East African tale about how light first came to the earth when the animals delegated Spider, Fly and Mouse to go up through a crack in the sky (lightning) to fetch some. Though the selfish sky king (pictured in a tall African mask and grass robe) tries to trick the trio by setting them impossible tasks, the animals outsmart him and return with a box containing. . . a rooster. Tricked after all? No, for with a cock-a-doodle-doo, the rooster proceeds to call up the light, ""just as he has every morning from that day to this."" Romanek's black and white woodcuts (though more West than East African when African at all) respond smartly to the action, which holds and gratifies attention to the end.

Pub Date: Jan. 15, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1976

Categories: CHILDREN'S