Arrow to the Sun
{{Short description|1974 picture book by Gerald McDermott}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Arrow to the Sun
| image = CM arrow sun.jpg
| 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 = 0-670-13369-8
| dewey= 299.7 398.2 E
| congress= E99.P9 M25 1974
| oclc= 707401
}}
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, Both media are a retelling of a Pueblo tale, specifically an Acoma Pueblo{{cite book |last1=Paytiamo |first1=James |title=Flaming Arrow's People by an Acoma Indian |section=The Flaming Arrow Katsina |date=1932 |publisher=Duffield and Green |chapter-url=http://southwestcrossroads.org/record.php?num=514 |access-date=3 April 2025 |via=Southwest Crossroads |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129041801/http://southwestcrossroads.org/record.php?num=514 |archive-date=29 November 2010 |url-status=dead}} tale, in which a mysterious boy seeks his father. In retelling the tale, some folklore scholars believe that the story has digressed from the spirit of the Acoma tradition.{{cite journal |last1=Reese |first1=Debbie |title=Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom |journal=Language Arts |date=January 2007 |volume=84 |issue=3 |page=246 |url=https://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/305_PDF/305_FinalProj/305FP_Race/NativeAmFolktales_Caution_Jan07_LA.pdf |access-date=3 April 2025 |quote=...McDermott’s story is not accurate in its representation of my Pueblo Indian culture|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722235614/https://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/305_PDF/305_FinalProj/305FP_Race/NativeAmFolktales_Caution_Jan07_LA.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2023 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Eliot A. |title=Fakelore, Multiculturalism, and the Ethics of Children's Literature |url=http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/cec/fakelore.shtml |website=Carrie Eurasia Collection |access-date=3 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609192604/http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/cec/fakelore.shtml |archive-date=9 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}
Plot
Long ago, the Lord of the Sun shoots down the spark of life into the Pueblo, where it reaches a young woman and causes her to give birth to an unnamed son, referred to as "the Boy". When the Boy reaches adolescence, he is ridiculed by the other boys because he has no father. Disheartened, the Boy decides to leave the Pueblo and find his father.
During his journey, the Boy asks the assistance of both a farmer and a sculptress, but both refuse. However, when the Boy asks an elderly arrowsmith, the arrowsmith senses his relation to the Sun and agrees to lend aid. The arrowsmith transforms the Boy into an arrow and launches him to the Sun.
Arriving in the Sun, the boy encounters his father, the Lord, who is skeptical of the Boy's identity as his son. To confirm the Boy's identity, he challenges his son to complete four trials: the Kiva of Lions, the Kiva of Serpents, the Kiva of Bees, and the Kiva of Lightning; the boy emerges from the Kiva of Lightning with newfound powers stemming from the Sun.
After the Boy endures these trials, the Lord finally acknowledges him as his son, and he sends the Boy back to Earth to bring the Sun's spirit into the world of men. The denizens of the Pueblo welcome the Boy home with the Dance of Life to commemorate his return.
Reception
The film was named to the list of ALA Notable Children's Videos in 1973.{{Cite book|publisher= ALA|isbn= 978-0-8389-3342-8|title=Notable children's films and videos, filmstrips, and recordings, 1973-1986|page=2|location=Chicago|access-date=3 April 2025|date=1987|url= http://archive.org/details/notablechildrens0000unse_s8t3}}
The book won the 1975 Caldecott Medal for illustration.{{cite web |title=Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottwinners/caldecottmedal.cfm |website=Association for Library Service to Children |publisher=ALA |access-date=3 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308100832/http://www.ala.org:80/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottwinners/caldecottmedal.cfm |archive-date=8 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
External links
- {{Internet Archive short film|arrowtothesun_201705}}
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{{succession box|title=Caldecott Medal recipient|before=Duffy and the Devil|after=Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears|years=1975}}
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{{Caldecott Medal}}
Category:1973 animated short films
Category:1974 children's books
Category:Caldecott Medal–winning works
Category:Films based on children's books
Category:American picture books
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