When the World Was Young: Creation and Pourquoi Tales - Hardcover

Margaret Mayo says most writers state they've always written and made up stories, right from a very young age. Not her! Margaret was a voracious reader but never invented stories, until the morning of June 14th 1974 when she woke up with an idea for a short story. The story grew until it turned into a full length novel, and after a few rewrites, it was accepted by Mills & Boon. Two years and eight books later, Margaret gave up full-time work for good. And her love of writing goes on!

Gr. 4^-7, younger for reading aloud. With points of origin stretching around the globe, the stories in this exceptional picture-book collection present folkloric explanations for age-old questions, such as Why do people die? Why does the moon come out at night? Why are people different colors? The illustrations depict solid, sympathetic characters, and Brierley's effective use of light and dark lends a feeling of movement to the artwork: in a Polynesian pourquoi tale, Maui's sister's long, dark hair seems ready to fall into her brother's hands as she cuts it off in order catch the sun; in the Native American story about how fire came to be hidden in every tree, Bear appears to be searing the night sky with his torch. A strong pairing of richly drawn images and a distinct storytelling voice makes this a valuable multicultural title, and Mayo includes excellent source notes as well as some additional information on the people who originally told the stories. Karen Morgan