Johonaa'ei: Bringer of Dawn
As Johonaa'ei, the sun, slowly rises, his gentle light and warmth wake the inhabitants of the desert. Johonaa'ei reaches down into the home of the field mice, and lightly tickles the nose of mother mouse; then Johonaa'ei visits the burrow of mother and father rabbit to rouse the family of slumbering bunnies. Finally, Johonaa'ei knocks on the door of the hogan to wake the Navajo family within. Will there be a welcoming response?
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As Johonaa'ei, the sun, slowly rises, his gentle light and warmth wake the inhabitants of the desert. Johonaa'ei reaches down into the home of the field mice, and lightly tickles the nose of mother mouse; then Johonaa'ei visits the burrow of mother and father rabbit to rouse the family of slumbering bunnies. Finally, Johonaa'ei knocks on the door of the hogan to wake the Navajo family within. Will there be a welcoming response? School Library Journal K-Gr 3- This reassuring bilingual tale describes how the sun, Jóhonaa'éí, awakens various things in the morning: a sage bush, some animals, and a human family. The soothing refrain, "Contented to know his job is done, Jóhonaa'éí goes on...," invites an audience to echo the reader. Amusingly, the refrain changes slightly when the coyote ignores the sun and just closes his eyes again, then the refrain begins, "Contented to know he tried,...." Finally, the sun taps on the door of a hogan until a family emerges to offer prayers to the "morning spirits" and thank Jóhonaa'éí for bringing them a new day. The award-winning Navajo illustrator, known for his mixture of art styles, plays with perspective and relational size: one page has an oversize sage bush in the foreground while the mesa behind it reflects a mixture of light and dark brown tones as the sun slowly reappears in a darkened sky. The animal characters range from realistic to cartoonlike renditions, and children will likely delight in the humorous depictions of mice and rabbits. Thick black lines create outlines that are filled with bold colors; narrow black lines expressively convey human features. Curiously, the first spread of the hogan shows smoke coming out of the chimney, the second does not, but the third picture again shows it. Stories about roosters awakening everyone abound; this one provides a gentle and quiet alternative that also honors a Native American culture.-Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA
\ School Library JournalK-Gr 3- This reassuring bilingual tale describes how the sun, Jóhonaa'éí, awakens various things in the morning: a sage bush, some animals, and a human family. The soothing refrain, "Contented to know his job is done, Jóhonaa'éí goes on...," invites an audience to echo the reader. Amusingly, the refrain changes slightly when the coyote ignores the sun and just closes his eyes again, then the refrain begins, "Contented to know he tried,...." Finally, the sun taps on the door of a hogan until a family emerges to offer prayers to the "morning spirits" and thank Jóhonaa'éí for bringing them a new day. The award-winning Navajo illustrator, known for his mixture of art styles, plays with perspective and relational size: one page has an oversize sage bush in the foreground while the mesa behind it reflects a mixture of light and dark brown tones as the sun slowly reappears in a darkened sky. The animal characters range from realistic to cartoonlike renditions, and children will likely delight in the humorous depictions of mice and rabbits. Thick black lines create outlines that are filled with bold colors; narrow black lines expressively convey human features. Curiously, the first spread of the hogan shows smoke coming out of the chimney, the second does not, but the third picture again shows it. Stories about roosters awakening everyone abound; this one provides a gentle and quiet alternative that also honors a Native American culture.-Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA\ \ \
