Say ADIÓS to the Summer

Say ADIÓS to the Summer

As another summer comes to a close, we in the Pacific Northwest are painfully aware that it's time to say goodbye to our life-giving globe of warmth and light. This inspired me to republish a review I once wrote of a children's book called: 

La Lagartija y el Sol (the Lizard and the Sun)

By Alma Flor Ada 

Illustrated by Felipe Dávalos

This beautifully illustrated children’s book delivers a Mexican folktale in English and in Spanish.  The story takes place in the pre-colonial days of the Aztec empire.  It begins with a crisis: El sol no salía y todo estaba en tinieblas.  It’s not really explained why the sun doesn’t want to wake up (he’s bored with his job?), but all of Monteczuma’s  horses and all Monteczuma’s men couldn’t get a rise out of ‘ol Sol.  Actually there were no horses in Mesoamerica in those days, but el emperadodoes employ a woodpecker with a rock-hard beak and a tenacious little emerald lizard to help resurrect the sun and end the darkness.  I won’t give away their trick, but I will say the book ends (spoiler alert) like a Rudyard Kipling “just so” story—Y desde ese día, a todas las lagartijas les encanta dormir al sol—which explains why it is that lizards love to bask in the sun (of course, we could consider reptilian ectothermy, but that would diminish the story’s charm.)

The colorful paintings of this book are very captivating.  They are based on the Aztec style of picture writing, the 2D glyphs seen on ancient ceramic vessels and ritual codices painted on deer skin.  I first saw these stylistic images, where all the figures are seemingly drawn in profile, in my sixth grade history book.  Growing up in Southern California, we learned an appreciable amount about Mexican history.  I recall the Aztec soldiers in jaguar and eagle suits wielding their ornate battle clubs bravely, but futilely, against the firepower of the Conquistadores.  I’ve since seen the stylistic art of the Aztecs in countless Mexican restaurantes, especially the famous Aztec calendar stone (that amazing disk-shaped sculpture comprised of a series of intricately detailed concentric rings that draw your attention to the sun god Tonatiuh, who sticks his tongue out at you from the center.*) But the paintings of this book are rendered in a fully 3D fashion, as if Quetzalcoatl pulled his creations out from the world of flat glyphs and into the 3D world.

There are floating chinampas, oversized headdresses, plazas and pyramids, and authentically gargantuan ear piercings (but no obsidian lip plugs thankfully).  And despite the focus on an Aztec style, a little Diego Rivera influence makes its way into the art—making it a truly Mexican production.

*Actually, what appears to simply be a tongue dangling from the god's mouth is an obsidian knife--a reminder of the god's thirst for human sacrifice. I thought I'd leave that little detail out of a children's book review.

Palabras Profundas

resplandecer – to glow

resplandeciente - glowing

trono – thorn

descubrimiento – discovery

pájaro carpintero – woodpecker

despiértate – wake up!

florecer– to bloom

alumbrar – to light up

Linkos

http://almaflorada.com/the-lizard-and-the-sun-la-lagartija-y-el-sol/

If you're a fan of wonderful Mexican art (mucho más mejor que mío), then check out:

http://felipedavalos.com/