Arrow to the Sun

Infobox Book
name = Arrow to the Sun


image_caption =
author = Gerald McDermott
illustrator = Gerald McDermott
cover_artist =
country = United States
genre = Children's picture book
publisher = Viking Press
release_date = 1974
media_type =
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0670133698

"Arrow to the Sun" is a 1973 short film and a 1974 book, both by Gerald McDermott. The book was printed in gouache and ink, and won the 1975 Caldecott Medal for illustration.American Library Association: [http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecottwinners/caldecottmedal.htm Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present] . URL accessed 27 January 2007.] Both media are a retelling of a Pueblo tale, in which a mysterious boy seeks his father.

Plot

The Boy (he is never given a personal name) is the son of the Lord of the Sun, who sends the spark of life into a maiden of the Pueblo. He is ridiculed by the other boys because he has no father.

The Boy asks various adults of the Pueblo for help in finding his father. When he asks the wise Arrow Maker, the man transforms the Boy into an arrow and launches him to the Sun. Arriving in the Sun, his identity as the Lord's son is tested by passing through four ritual huts: the Kiva of Lions, the Kiva of Serpents, the Kiva of Bees, and the Kiva of Lightning.

After the Boy endures these trials, the Lord acknowledges him as his son. The Boy is then sent back to Earth by his father, to bring the Sun's spirit into the world of men.

References