Raven: A trickster tale

Title: Raven: A trickster tale from the pacific northwest

Author:  Gerald McDermott

Illustrator:  Gerald McDermott

Publishing company:  Harcourt Brace Publishers

Copyright date:  1993

Number of pages: 32
Genre: traditional

     I chose this book because I was looking for books that would represent a trickster tale.  I was looking for a good example to help me explain what a ‘trickster’ tale was to my children.  This book was given to me as an addition to my library.  I really like this story.  This book is about a raven that steals the sun and gives it to all the people to be enjoyed.  Until this day, the people had lived in darkness.  This story has been passed down through the generations. 

      This book uses watercolors for the majority of the pictures.  This book also employs the use of pastels, and colored pencils.  The pages are void of any negative space at all.  Each page has a picture that helps to tell the story.  The type of text placement this book uses is informal.  The words are placed directly over a picture.  The pictures are done using images that are traditional of the tribe the story represents. 

     This story would be appropriate for any readers who wish to learn about Native American folklore.   I would say it would work best for a social studies unit in third or fourth grade.  I would use this to demonstrate different writing styles, or to bring about a class discussion about folk tales.  I might use this in a science unit to start a unit on the sun.  This book has been awarded the Caldecott honor award.