Folklore

       Jerry Pinkney brings new life to one of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tales in his adaptation and illustration of The Nightingale. As countless storytellers before him have fashioned tales to their preferences and traditions, Pinkney takes the same liberty to alter the original story’s setting from China to Morocco, ushering in the exquisite and colorful patterns of North Africa. The watercolor illustrations in this book demonstrate the soft, intricate style for which Jerry Pinkney has received numerous awards. They also reflect remarkable vibrance and depth with detailed attention to the bright colors, rich patterned fabrics, diverse peoples, and Arabian culture of Morocco. True to its fairy tale form, The Nightingale is filled with magic including a singing bird, Death, and the ghosts of past deeds. All conspire together to teach a kind but flawed ruler the beauty of nature and the power of redemption. Indeed as the restored king embarks on a new life of hope and justice, the nightingale reminds him, “Promise me that you will listen to your heart, and always live in peace.” 

       We receive a picture of the goodness by which we are all to live in this fairy tale, but The Nightingale also gifts us with a rich message about beauty and nature. The greatest treasure of the kingdom is the enchanting little brown bird, noticed and appreciated by the fishermen and the humble kitchen girl and neglected by the king and his court. Silken strings, cages, and golden mechanical birds cannot control what she freely gives. Nature is spontaneous, good, and beautiful, offering healing to those who will receive it. Her beauty begets joy, hope and fulfillment, and the wisdom of the bird, and of the natural world she represents, rises above that of men. We are reminded to find our own restoration there because as Hans Christian Andersen said, “Just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” 

       One of the most pressing tasks of teaching today is creating relevance and personal connections between children and literacy. Pourquoi stories draw on young children’s unfettered curiosity so often shown in that unrelenting question of “Why?” Our young students want to know what they do not understand, and their minds that travel easily between the real and fantastical allow for simple myths to explain complex realities. 

       In Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky, author and illustrator Niki Daly tells the ancient Nigerian myth of how the celestial bodies took their places in the heavens. Like Pinkney's Nightingale, Daly adapts an old, beautiful story that also offers us a lesson about wisdom. In his subtle watercolor illustrations of blue-gray, red and ivory, line features prominently. He personifies the sun and moon, as man and woman respectively, but gives them faces that are reminiscent of classic nursery tales and young children’s drawings. The tale is as clever as it is unbelievable as the foolish sun invites the sea and its creatures to flood their happy, earthly home, destroying all the moon’s treasures with the house. We experience her angry displeasure as she then welcomes a new home that will separate her eternally from the sun. Daly plays with some humorous stereotypes of husband and wife dynamics that are not lost on older readers. He also leaves new mysteries for his readers to uncover such as the Great Creator, the dark side of the moon, and the rising sea. Overall, he gives us a fun tale that will engage and activate the minds and imaginations of young readers. 

Daly, N. (1995). Why the sun and moon live in the sky. New York, New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books. 

Pinkney, J. (2002). The nightingale. New York, New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books.