Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott

Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale. Written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott. 1974. ISBN: 0-670-13369-8. Winner of the Caldecott Medal. Native American culture. Ages 4+.

In Arrow to the sun, the main character, boy, is sent to the Pueblo people by the God. Boy sets out to find his father, which is the God, who lives in the sun. The wise arrow maker realizes that Boy is special and turns him into an arrow and shoots him to the sun to see God, his father. When Boy gets there, his father makes him do a series of test to see if he really is his son. He emerges victoriously, and his father sends Boy back to the Pueblo people to spread the word of God.

This tale is an old Pueblo Indian tale about how the spirit of the Lord of the Sun was sent to their people. In this book, the pictures are the story. McDermott uses the rich colors of the dusty earth and shapely geometrics. The art really personifies the Pueblo Indian art, and it is so interesting to look at.

An idea for using this book in the classroom would be to have the children create their own Native American art. It would be interesting to see how they would personify the members of their family using this geometric style.