ALA Booklist

Writing with coauthor Liano, Nobel Peace Prize winner Menchu follows The Girl from Chimel (2005), her memoir of growing up in a Guatemalan village, with this retelling of folktales that she heard as a child. The stories range from creation stories and pourquoi tales about animals to selections that reflect a distinctive worldview, a broad awareness of nature, and a sense of humor. Using vivid colors, the naturalistic, folk-art oil paintings (including one of newly created humans in all their naked innocence) illustrate the stories in a manner that reflects the simple spirit and directness of the tellings. An expressive collection that lends insight into the Mayan culture in which Menchu grew up.

Horn Book

With Dante Liano. Human-rights activist and Nobel laureate Menchu retells tales from her rural Guatemalan childhood. The stories are fresh and unusual but also disjointed and difficult to follow. Menchu offers no geographic or personal context to help readers interpret this jumble of legend, lecture, and outlandish advice. Domi's vivid, surreal paintings are bright spots in an otherwise unrewarding read. Glos.

Kirkus Reviews

Grandmother Moon, Grandfather Sun, Mother Earth and Father Sun all have a part to play in this collection of a dozen Mayan myths that reveal the nature of events, animals and even humans that inhabit the earth. For example, "The Amazing Twins" tale explains why toads now eat insects, snakes eat toads and how eagles came to eat snakes. The value of work is explained in "The Man Who Became a Buzzard." Each tale focuses on another phenomenon of Mother Earth or Father Sun. Domi's richly lush paintings, full of brilliant color, stylistically portray the essence of each tale, adding imagery and visual interpretation. This collection by a Nobel Peace Prize winner is a first-purchase addition to any library that includes African legends and myths, Native-American how and why stories and the literary tales of Rudyard Kipling. (Folktales. 8-10)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Nobel Prize winner and social activist Mench (The Girl from Chimel) here gathers 12 ancient Maya stories she heard as a child (according to the jacket flap) in this sometimes-opaque compilation. These metaphysical tales-especially the Maya creation myths-may seem obscure to younger audiences at first. The initial stories progress sequentially, explaining that when Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon were bored, they set creation in motion. They begot """"our mother, the Heart of Earth, and our father, the Heart of Heaven,"""" who in turn formed the sea and, from clay, the land and animals. The alternating first- and third-person voice is initially awkward, but once readers distinguish the two and settle into the protracted narrative style (peppered with several Maya words), the latter selections unfold as entertaining pourquoi tales. These selections also impart universal values (respect for elders, hard work, gratitude, etc.), with the lessons stated at the end of the subtly humorous stories (with titles such as """"The Man Who Became a Buzzard,"""" """"Twins Make Holes in Your Clothes and Send Ants"""" and """"Why the Elders Are the Four Corners of the Earth""""). Mexican artist Domi adds a strong native feel with her highly stylized paintings. Seeming almost abstract on occasion, the illustrations, with their flattened perspectives and fiesta-bright palette, play up the folk-art quality (in one, Mother Earth and Father Sky appear nude among the creatures they've created). Her artwork celebrates Maya people and their numinous beliefs. Ages 8-up.

School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up-Universal in appeal, this collection of 12 Mayan tales would be a significant addition to any library's holdings. The ancient stories are those that the author's grandparents shared with her when she was a child. The anthology includes creation myths, animal tales, twin tales (because twins are believed to have special powers), as well as stories that explain natural phenomena such as rainbows. "Where It's Revealed That Each Thing Has a Spirit" explains the book's title; the spirit, Rajaw Juyub', the "one who judges the way people treat nature," is honored by being given candles, flowers, and a "lot of honey." Domi's illustrations, done in oil, are boldly colorful and complement the stories well. Mench 's concluding words suggest the optimal way of sharing: these stories "should be heard at night, sitting around a fire, just before you shut your eyes and begin to dream."-Alexa Sandmann, Kent State University, OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.