Synopsis
A Peruvian folktale told in Spanish and English
Publishers Weekly
In this imaginative take on an ancient Peruvian tale, Fox persuades Mole to climb with him on a grass rope he has braided and--with the birds' help--hitched to the moon. Fox trains his sight upward and is not seen again except by the birds, who claim they can spy him in the moon still. Mole, nervously looking downward, falls; the birds carry him back to earth amid the jeers of the other animals, and to this day he prefers his solitary tunnel. Simple though it is, this retelling emphasizes its timelessness as a story: on one hand there is the insatiable desire to transcend earthly bounds; on the other, the fear of the unknown. Ehlert's characteristic, highly stylized cut-paper figures, in deep, vibrant colors that are used to set off the evanescent silver of the fox, rope and moon, capture the myth's magic and dexterously suggest its pre-Columbian origins. The book's bilingual text provides valuable material for the ever-growing audience for multicultural children's books. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)