THE PRECIOUS GIFT: A Navaho Creation Myth

New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young People, 1997. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Good/Very Good. Woodleigh Marx Hubbard. CONDITION: Gently pre-read and/or perused on shelf, 1997 Simon & Schuster hard cover (pictorial boards) & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Fascinating color illustrations by Woodleigh Marx Hubbard. CONTENT: The creation myth of the Dineh is extremely complex. Jackson retells a variant of a small portion of it: the bringing of water to the arid Earth. First Man sends out a number of water-searching parties. Beaver and Otter play and forget their task: for this, they are condemned to "...live in the swampy areas of lakes and never know the pleasure of clear, fresh water." Frog and Turtle try their best, but the spring Frog finds is dirty, so First Man tells them they must "...dine on bugs and live where the water is muddy and unclear." Snail, however, finds fresh water. Unbeknownst to her, it leaks out of the flask as she crawls along, and she falls asleep. First Man then takes the last drop, sings a water chant, and creates a river. He rewards Snail with her shell home, and First Woman gives her a silvery, moist trail that serves as a reminder of the value of water. The moral arbitrariness of this outcome may trouble some readers, but the story does convey the message that water is precious. Hubbard's illustrations are colorful and idiosyncratic. Pages dominated by the thirsty tan of dry land alternate with the blue and green of water and sky. Stylized distortions of various sorts - lumpy animals, boneless humans, and fantasy plants - enliven the pages. There is nothing in the design, however, that alludes to Navaho culture. 1 copy.