Starred Review ALA Booklist (Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 1991)

Starred Review Magnificent illustrations in paper cut dominate this tale based on Mayan folklore. When the chief priest foretells a year of terrible drought, young Pik makes a boastful joke: if he were the priest, he would make Chac, the rain god, get to work. No sooner has he spoken than the thundering figure of Chac appears. Pik challenges the rain god to a match of pok-a-tok (a game resembling soccer and basketball), and Chac sets the stakes: if Pik wins, there will be rain for his people, but if he loses, he will be turned into a frog. With the help of the jaguar, the quetzal, and the cenote (an underground reservoir), Pik wins the match and secures abundant rain. Wisniewski dramatizes his story with multilayered paper constructions like no others. Swirling thunderclouds, the rain forest, and the richly costumed characters appear in bold colors and amazingly intricate detail. The visual excitement of these pictures gives the book immediate and lasting appeal. An author's note at the book's end provides extensive information on Mayan history and culture. (Reviewed Oct. 15, 1991)

Horn Book

An original tale combines research on Mayan history and legend with a suspenseful sports story. When the village priest predicts a year of terrible drought, a young man challenges the god of rain to a game of 'pok-a-tok', a fast-moving cross between soccer and basketball. Intricate, dramatic cut-paper illustrations powerfully re-create the Mayan classical period.

Kirkus Reviews

A unique artist again creates a substantial original tale based on folkloric traditions, meticulously explained in an extensive note. This time the setting is Mayan; the protagonist is Pik, a boy who challenges his culture's fatalism in a ballplaying competition with Chac, the rain god, thus bringing relief to his drought-stricken village. Like the memorable contest in Wisniewski's The Warrior and the Wise Man (1989), Pik's is monumentally heroic and made even more dramatic in the artist's spectacular three-dimensional collages. A strong adventure that will appeal to a broad age range. (Picture book. 5-10)"

School Library Journal

Gr 1 Up-- An unusual story of a young Mayan ballplayer who, defying the priest's prophecy of a drought to come in the year ahead, challenges the rain god (Chac) to a game of pok-a-tok (a Mayan basketball/soccer game played on an outdoor court). Equipping himself with the speed of a jaguar (sacred animal to his people), the strength of a beautiful long-plumed Quetzal, and the hidden power of a sacred underground spring, the boy outperforms Chac. The god rewards him by sending gentle showers after his victories on the court. Wisniewski's exquisitely rendered cut-paper illustrations--more intricately crafted than those he created for The Warrior and The Wise Man (Lothrop, 1989)--contain depth and shadows, giving the appearance of an action-filled play. Their harmonious hues are those of the natural world that is the basis of Mayan existence: the browns, grays, and terra cottas of the earth; the blues of the sky and water; the ochres of the sun; and the greens of the foliage. In several places, though, the story skips from one scene to the next, as if the text were written to support the illustrations. Nevertheless, the great beauty of the volume and its lessons on Mayan culture make it a unique and worthwhile purchase. --Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH