Alma Flor Ada

The Lizard and the Sun / La lagartija y el sol

A Mex­i­can Folk­tale in a Bilin­gual Format

 

RECOGNITION

Gold Medal, Folk­lore Cat­e­gory, NAPPA – National Par­ent­ing Pub­li­ca­tions Association

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Once, a long, long time ago, the sun dis­ap­peared from the sky. Every­thing was dark for many days. All the ani­mals went to search for the sun in the rivers and lakes, through the fields and forests, but the sun was nowhere to be found. Lit­tle by lit­tle all the ani­mals gave up, except for the faith­ful lizard. Finally one day she found a strange glow­ing rock and dis­cov­ered the sun fast asleep. But no one could per­suade the sun to wake up. Then the emperor orga­nized a great feast, with the finest dancers and musi­cians, so the sun would wake up and never fall asleep again. Since that day, all lizards love to lie in the sun, to remem­ber the day when one of their own brought light and warmth back to the world.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

What a gift to have had Felipe Dáva­los cre­ate the art for this story! Felipe Dáva­los is a great artist and also a learned scholar. As an archae­ol­o­gist he knows a great deal about the time and set­ting of this story. And his won­der­ful illus­tra­tions reflect his art and his knowledge.

REVIEWS

School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3: A bilin­gual (English/Spanish) retelling of a Mex­i­can folk­tale. When the sun does not appear for sev­eral days in a row, every­one becomes anx­ious. Var­i­ous ani­mals set off to look for it in such places as rivers, lakes, the jun­gle, and even in the cone of a vol­cano. After search­ing high and low, they give up, except for Lizard. Her faith and per­se­ver­ance is rewarded when the celes­tial body is found sleep­ing under a rock. The story empha­sizes the impor­tance of the sun to all liv­ing crea­tures. The col­or­ful double-page illus­tra­tions evoke the native cul­ture by fea­tur­ing char­ac­ters in their dec­o­rated tunics and head­dresses. In addi­tion, the use of musi­cal instru­ments such as drums rein­forces Indian cul­ture. Read­ers will cheer Lizard as she finds the Earth’s source of light and warmth. An excel­lent choice for sto­ry­hours. –Vianela Rivas, NYPL.

Kirkus Reviews

Ada (Mediopollito/Half-Chicken, 1995, etc.) elon­gates a Mex­i­can folk­tale about a tena­cious lizard who won’t stop look­ing for the sun when it dis­ap­pears; Dáva­los cre­ates a series of half-lit, blue-toned spreads that evoke the world of the Aztec empire. A first-person intro­duc­tion explains nat­ural absences of the sun (behind the clouds, etc.), and pre­pares read­ers for a time, long ago, when the sun dis­ap­peared for no rea­son. Ani­mals and birds search for it, and fail; only the lizard con­tin­ues, find­ing a strangely glow­ing rock and rush­ing off to the city to tell the emperor. He tells her to move the rock, which she attempts, but the rock won’t budge–once more, she’s off to the city. The emperor comes to the rock with a wood­pecker, and its beak splits the rock open, reveal­ing a sleep­ing sun, who drowsily agrees to return to the sky if the emperor will pro­vide the liveli­est musi­cians and dancers. So the enter­tain­ment is arranged, and all ends well, with the inau­gu­ra­tion of an annual feast. Eng­lish and Span­ish texts appear on each spread of this pleas­ant tale, diluted only by the sev­eral jour­neys of the lizard between rock and city, and the sun’s pro­longed resis­tance to wak­ing up. (Pic­ture book/folklore. 5–8).

Cen­ter of Children’s Books

“Once in ancient Mex­ico, the sun dis­ap­peared. For days the anx­ious peo­ple wait for the sun to return, but it does not. When lizard dis­cov­ers a rock low­ing with an inner light, she tells the emperor and they awaken the sleep­ing sun; it returns to the sky, shed­ding light and warmth on all the earth. Ada retells this tra­di­tional tale with grace­ful lan­guage and read aloud rhythms, jux­ta­pos­ing images of the tena­cious, quest­ing lizard against the dark­ness of jun­gle, mar­ket­place, and palace. Dáva­los paint­ings are rich with color and expres­sion as the bright green lizard tra­verses the torch­lit night in bal­anced com­po­si­tions that spring to bright life with the dis­cov­ery of the bril­liant, sleep­ing sun. […]” (The Bul­letin for the Cen­ter of Children’s books. Octo­ber, 1997)

Book­page

“[…] The Cuban-born author says she hopes the dual-language for­mat will help awaken children’s inter­est in acquir­ing a sec­ond lan­guage, and cer­tainly it should arouse their curios­ity. Artist Felipe Dáva­los, orig­i­nally from Mex­ico, has cre­ated a col­or­ful, exotic land­scape full of pyra­mids, cacti and ancient Mex­i­can sculp­ture and design. His illus­tra­tions beau­ti­fully cap­ture the glow­ing changes as the sun shines once more. “The Lizard and the Sun” is a sump­tu­ous intro­duc­tion to the land of the Aztec and Maya.” (Book­page. Octo­ber, 1997)

The Read­ing Teacher

“[…] Felipe Dávalos’s styl­ized double-page illus­tra­tions com­ple­ment the bilin­gual text hand­somely. Cross-hatching and speck­led back­grounds add shad­ing and tex­ture to art­fully arranged com­po­si­tions that echo the city’s pyra­mid shapes.” (Read­ing Teacher, Sep­tem­ber 1998)

School Library Journal

“A bilin­gual (English/Spanish) retelling of a Mex­i­can folk­tale. When the sun does not appear for sev­eral days in a row, every­one becomes anx­ious. Var­i­ous ani­mals set off to look for it in such places as rivers, lakes, the jun­gle, and even in the cone of a vol­cano. After search­ing high and low, they give up, except for Lizard. Her faith and per­se­ver­ance is rewarded when the celes­tial body is found sleep­ing under a rock. The story empha­sizes the impor­tance of the sun to all liv­ing crea­tures. The col­or­ful double-page illus­tra­tions evoke the native cul­ture by fea­tur­ing char­ac­ters in their dec­o­rated tunics and head­dresses. In addi­tion, the use of musi­cal instru­ments such as drums rein­forces Indian cul­ture. Read­ers will cheer Lizard as she finds the earth’s source of light and warmth. An excel­lent choice for story hours.” (Vanesa Rivas, NYPL, School Library Jour­nal, August, 1997)

Book­list

“Pre­sented in both Span­ish and Eng­lish, this gen­tle tra­di­tional tale from Mex­ico shows how peo­ple work­ing together can get the job done. When the sun dis­ap­pears from the sky it is lizard who dis­cov­ers “a rock that is shin­ing as though it had a light inside.” Trav­el­ing to the dis­tant city she tells the emperor who orders her to move it. But when is unable to, the emperor and the wood­pecker help lizard release the reluc­tant sun trapped inside. The struc­ture is dif­fer­ent from many folk­tales, allow­ing more room for Ada’s elo­quent voice. Dáva­los sets the story dur­ing the time of the Aztec empire; his styl­is­ti­cally detailed art­work is ini­tially veiled in mid­night blue but erupts in golden yel­low when the sun finally returns to the sky. Accord­ing to the author’s note, Ada remem­bers this pourquoi story from an old read­ing text.” (Julie Cor­saro, Book­list, Decem­ber, 1997).

MINI LESSON TO PRESENT THIS BOOK:
THE LIZARD AND THE SUN

by Alma Flor Ada

The Story

This ancient leg­end takes place when the city of Tenochti­tlán was one of the largest in the world. It tells how a lit­tle green lizard by not giv­ing up was able to save the world from dis­ap­pear­ing in the shad­ows. The out­stand­ing illus­tra­tions by Felipe Dáva­los allow us to par­tic­i­pate in the daily life and the mag­nif­i­cence of the great Inca empire.

How This Book Was Created

The major civ­i­liza­tions of the Amer­i­cas have been for me a con­stant source of admi­ra­tion and pride. Among its many leg­ends I was always fas­ci­nated by the lizard who would not give up, because it reflects so well an impor­tant say­ing that has guided my life, a say­ings that has led Lati­nos search­ing for devel­op­ment: ¡Sí se puede! Yes, we can! I grew up in con­tact with nature and was always delighted by lizards, very abun­dant in my home land. As a young child I would col­lect their eggs and placed them on a planter, watch­ing them for hours in the hope of see­ing them hatch. The lit­tle lizards never came out dur­ing my watch, so I had to be con­tent see­ing the empty crum­bled shells. It is a great joy for me that Mae­stro Felipe Dáva­los would share in the cre­ation of this story. Due to his back­ground in archae­ol­ogy and his deep knowl­edge of the period of this story, Felipe Dáva­los was able to recre­ate this world both with great authen­tic­ity and artis­tic originality.

Themes, Con­cepts and Values

• life in the Aztec Empire
• the city of Tenochtitlán
• music
• per­se­ver­ance or tenacity
• the impor­tante of not liv­ing up

Vocab­u­lary

• ani­mals: jaguar, eagle, hare, deer, frog, toad, woodpecker
• places: pond, field, lake, jun­gle, moun­tain, vol­cano, desert
• con­cepts: empire, palace, throne, emperor
• val­ues: con­stancy, per­se­ver­ance, tenacity

Cul­tural Enrichment

The great city of Tenochti­tlán, cap­i­tal of the Inca Empire was one of the largest and most impor­tant cities of its time. Built over a lake it had ample bridges, beau­ti­ful palaces and mag­nif­i­cent tem­ples. Much of the trans­porta­tion was done with canoes. In its extra­or­di­nary mar­ket place one could find a great diver­sity of prod­ucts, pro­duce and hand­crafted item. The Aztecs, like many of the indige­nous peo­ple of the Amer­i­cas, gave homage to the Sun and cel­e­brate great fes­tiv­i­ties in its honor.

To Intro­duce The Book

If you turn off all lights and place sev­eral lighted can­dles, the stu­dents will be able to have an expe­ri­ence sim­i­lar to the one described in the book. Later they will be able to dis­cuss their expe­ri­ence and con­trast it with those in the legend.

Pre­vi­ous Knowl­edge and Experiences

Talk about these con­trasts. The stu­dents’ com­ments will vary. You may want to write them down.

• Light: Advan­tages = One can see
• Light: Dis­ad­van­tages = One can­not see
• Dark­ness: Advan­tages = One can rest
• Dark­ness: Dis­ad­van­tages = One may trip

Invite the stu­dents to share what they already know about the Aztec Empire. Here are some exam­ples of pos­si­ble answers. Write the ones the stu­dents offer.

Aztec Empire:
Where? Ancient Méx­ico
When? In the XV Cen­tury
How? Daily life: They cul­ti­vated corn and cacao. Gov­ern­ment: They had an emperor and sev­eral castes. Edu­ca­tion: There was a school for young men, the “Calmecac.”

Encour­age them also to share their ideas and feel­ings about the topic.

Cre­ative Dialogue

These ques­tions, or sim­i­lar ones, will facil­i­tate a true dia­logue between the reader and the text. In this way the read­ing will not only enrich the stu­dents with new visions and ideas, but will allow them to rec­og­nize them­selves as pro­tag­o­nists in their own lives.

Descrip­tive Phase. To facil­i­tate com­pre­hen­sion of the text.

• Why were the per­sons wor­ried when the sun disappeared?
• Which were some of the ani­mals that search for the sun?
• Why did they give up?

Per­sonal Inter­pre­tive Phase. To relate the text to per­sonal expe­ri­ences. These com­par­isons may val­i­date per­sonal expe­ri­ences or enrich them, they can cor­rob­o­rate the text or com­pli­ment it.

• Have you ever faced a dif­fi­culty? Were you able to resolve it?
• Have you seen any­one solve a dif­fi­cult prob­lem? How?
• Do you know any­one who did not give up in the face of adversity?
• What in your life is so impor­tant you would never give it up or you will be per­sis­tent to pre­serve it?

Crítical/Multicultural Phase. To stim­u­late reflec­tion against dis­crim­i­na­tion, racism, prej­ud­ism or inequal­ity and in favor of social jus­tice and peace.

• Do you believe it is impor­tant to not give up? Why?
• Do you believe Lati­nos have shown tenac­ity in this coun­try? How?

Creative/Transformative Phase. To ana­lyze the read­ers’ own real­ity, enriched and strength­ened by the dia­logue, in order to make deci­sions for future actions in pro of jus­tice, equal­ity and peace.

The sun gives light and warmth and per­mits life. What can you do to improve your own life? To improve your home environment?

The Sun gives joy. When the sun shines the birds sing and chil­dren play. What can you do to bring joy to others?

Lit­er­atura en acción:
LA LAGARTIJA Y EL SOL

por Alma Flor Ada

La his­to­ria

Esta antigua leyenda, que ocurre cuando la ciu­dad de Tenochti­tlán era una de las más grandes del mundo, relata como una pequeña lagar­tija verde que no se dio por ven­cida logró sal­var al mundo de desa­pare­cer en la oscuri­dad. Las extra­or­di­nar­ias ilus­tra­ciones de Felipe Dáva­los nos per­miten par­tic­i­par de la vida diaria y de la mag­nif­i­cen­cia del gran impe­rio azteca.

Cómo se creó este libro

Las grandes civ­i­liza­ciones de América son, para mí, con­stante motivo de admiración y orgullo. Entre sus muchas leyen­das me fascinó siem­pre la de la lagar­ti­jita que no se dio por ven­cida, porque refleja tan bien el impor­tante dicho pop­u­lar que ha regido mi vida y que ha servido de lema a los his­páni­cos que bus­can la superación: ¡Sí se puede!. Como crecí en con­tacto con la nat­u­raleza, siem­pre me encan­taron las lagar­ti­jas que son muy abun­dantes en mi tierra. De niña recogía sus huevecitos y los reunía en una mac­eta y los observ­aba por horas, soñando ver apare­cer las lagar­ti­ji­tas. Pero jamás se deci­dieron a salir en mi pres­en­cia, y tenía que con­tentarme sólo con ver los cas­caronci­tos vacíos. Es una ale­gría inmensa para mí que el Mae­stro Felipe Dáva­los com­partiera la creación de este libro. Por su for­ma­ción como arqueól­ogo y su pro­fundo conocimiento de esta real­i­dad, Felipe Dáva­los pudo recrear este mundo con toda exac­ti­tud a la vez que con su usual genial­i­dad artística.

Temas, con­cep­tos y valores

• la vida en el Impe­rio azteca
• la ciu­dad de Tenochtitlán
• la música
• la per­se­ver­an­cia o tenacidad
• la impor­tan­cia de no darse por vencido

Vocab­u­lario

• ani­males: jaguar, águila, liebres, vena­dos, ranas, sapos, pájaro carpintero
• lugares: pra­dos, lagu­nas, char­cos, selva, mon­tañas, vol­canes, desierto
• con­cep­tos: impe­rio, pala­cio, trono, emperador
• val­ores: con­stan­cia, per­se­ver­an­cia, tenacidad

Enriquec­imiento cultural

La gran ciu­dad de Tenochti­tlán, cap­i­tal del Impe­rio Azteca, era una de las may­ores y más impor­tantes ciu­dades de su tiempo. Con­stru­ida sobre una laguna, tenía amplios puentes, her­mosos pala­cios y tem­p­los extra­or­di­nar­ios. Mucha de la comu­ni­cación se hacía en canoas. En su enorme mer­cado se encon­traba una gran diver­si­dad de pro­duc­tos ali­men­ti­cios y arte­sanales. Los aztecas, como muchos de los pueb­los indí­ge­nas de América, rendían culto al sol y hacían grandes fes­tivi­dades en su honor.

Para pre­sen­tar este libro

Si apaga todas las luces y coloca varias velas encen­di­das per­mi­tirá que los alum­nos ten­gan una expe­ri­en­cia sim­i­lar a la descrita en el libro. Luego podrán com­parar sus experiencias.

Conocimien­tos y expe­ri­en­cias pre­vias : Con­versen sobre estos con­trastes. Las respues­tas vari­arán. Anótelas.

Con­trastes:

• Luz: Util­i­dades = Se puede ver
• Luz: Desven­ta­jas = No se puede dormir
• Obscuri­dad: Util­i­dades = Per­mite descansar
• Obscuri­dad: Desven­ta­jas = Uno puede tropezarse

Invíte­los a com­par­tir lo que sepan sobre el impe­rio azteca. Aquí hay algunos ejem­p­los de respues­tas posi­bles. Anote las que den los alumnos.

El impe­rio azteca:
¿Dónde? En el antiguo Méx­ico
¿Cuándo? En el siglo XV
¿Cómo?
Vida diaria: Cul­tiva­ban el cacao
El gob­ierno: Tenían un emper­ador y dis­tin­tas cas­tas
La edu­cación: Tenían una escuela para jóvenes lla­mada “El Calmecac”

Aníme­los a expre­sar tam­bién sus ideas y sen­timien­tos sobre el tema.

Diál­ogo Creador

Estas pre­gun­tas u otras sim­i­lares facil­i­tarán un ver­dadero diál­ogo entre el texto y el lec­tor. Así la lec­tura no sólo enrique­cerá a los niños con nuevas visiones e ideas, sino les ayu­dará a recono­cerse a sí mis­mos como pro­tag­o­nistas de su propia vida.

Fase descrip­tiva — Para facil­i­tar la com­pren­sión de la lectura

1. ¿Por qué esta­ban pre­ocu­padas las per­sonas cuando el sol desapareció?
2. ¿Cuáles fueran algunos de los ani­males que lo buscaron?
3. ¿Por qué se dieron por vencidos?

Fase inter­pre­ta­tiva per­sonal — Para rela­cionar el texto a las expe­ri­en­cias per­son­ales. Estas com­para­ciones pueden val­i­dar las expe­ri­en­cias per­son­ales o enrique­cer­las, pueden cor­ro­bar el texto o complementarlo.

1. ¿Te has enfrentado alguna vez a un prob­lema difí­cil? ¿Pud­iste resolverlo?
2. ¿Has visto a alguien resolver un prob­lema difí­cil alguna vez? ¿Cómo lo hizo?
3. ¿Cono­ces a alguien que no se da por ven­cido¿ ¿n qué ha per­se­ver­ado esa persona?

Fase crítica/Multicultural — Para estim­u­lar la reflex­ión crítica en con­tra de la dis­crim­i­nación o los pre­juicios y en favor de la jus­ti­cia social y la paz.

1. ¿Crees que la per­se­ver­an­cia es impor­tante¿ ¿Por qué?
2. ¿En qué forma crees que los his­páni­cos hemos per­se­ver­ado en este país?

Fase creadora / trans­for­madora — Para analizar al mundo real de los lec­tores, enrique­ci­dos y for­t­ale­ci­dos y tomar deter­mi­na­ciones para acciones futuras en pro de la jus­ti­cia, el bien y la paz.

El sol da luz y calor y per­mite la vida. ¿Qué puedes hacer tú para que tu vida sea mejor? ¿Para que el ambi­ente en tu casa sea mejor?

El sol da ale­gría. Cuando hay sol los pajar­i­tos can­tan y los niños juegan.¿Qué puedes hacer tú para ale­grar a otros?

Les­son Plan

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/folktale_meetalma.htm

READERS’ RESPONSES

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