Miro in the Kingdom of the Sunis by Jane
Kurtz. Illustrated by David Frampton (1996) Reading Level: Ages 4-8. 32
pages. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0395691818. This book is not available
from the publisher but available in many school and public libraries. |
Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun
by Jane Kurtz
Illustrated by David Frampton
"A re-telling of an Inca folktale. Miro sets out on a quest to find
the lake at one of the corners of the earth so she can find the magic
water to save the prince and free her brothers. Frampton's strikingly
bold woodcuts, filled with color and given geometric patterns and
borders, are the perfect complement to this tale, evoking the
magic and mystery of a vanished ancient culture....Kurtz combines
formal language and a contemporary style to make the story at once
accessible and other worldly." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Kurtz expands on an Incan folktale, 'The Search for the Magic Lake,'
casting it in the dignified, almost reverent prose of a high fantasy
quest tale. Frampton's tinted woodcuts, rugged and bold befitting
Miro's adventures, incorporate intricately patterned motifs from Incan
art in strong and rugged earthtones." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Throughout, Kurtz deftly weaves in details of pre- Conquest Inca life,
giving readers a glimpse of a vanished culture as well as a good story.
An excellent choice for children ready to go beyond Western
fairytale favorites." -- Publishers Weekly
"Kurtz is a superb storyteller....an unusual and outstanding offering." -- School Library Journal
Honors/Reviews:
Classroom Connections
- Reading and Writing: Learn more about how the author researched and wrote the text and how the illustrator illustrated this book.
- Read about the Incas
- Research: How did what Pizarro found at Cuzco influence what later happened in the northern part of the American continent?
- Research the kind of effect the gold had on Spain once it got there.
- Despite the fact that the Spainards had most of the Incas'
treasures and beautiful things, the Incas did "give us a most precious
gift."
- Read The Amazing Potato : a Story in Which the Incas,
Conquistadors, Marie Antoinette, Thomas Jefferson, Wars, Famines,
Immigrants, and French Fries all Play a Part. by Melton Meltzer (HarperCollins, 1992).
- Read another good book about the Incas, Gold: The True
Story of Why People Search for It, Mine It, Trade It, Steal It, Mint
It, Hoard It, Shape It, Wear It, Fight and Kill for It by Milton Meltzer (HarperCollins, 1993)
- Compare this version of the folktale with "The Search for the Magic Lake" by Genevieve Barlow in Latin American Folktales (Rand McNally, 1966).
- The Incas loved storytelling, and they told stories of the beginning of the world and of the hacha hacha, the eastern jungle where they said a great dragon snake lived. You can read one of their stories, for example, in From Out of the Ark: Stories from the World's Religions by Anita Ganeri (Harcourt, 1996).
- Research to find out how these people influenced or who were part of the early Inca civilization.
- Father Bernabe Cobo
- Pedro de Cieza de Leon
- Pedro Sancho de la Hoz
- Tomas Garcilaso de la Vega
- Compare and contrast another book illustrated by David Frampton, Whaling Days (Houghton Mifflin) to Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun
- Take a close at some of the Inca symbols in these old
pictures. You can carve one of the symbols onto styrofoam and then,
using ink and a roller, create your own prints to illustrate Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun.
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About the Illustrations
At the end of the 14th century in Europe, artists began to use sharp
tools to carve pictures in pieces of wood- -first carving an outline
with a sharp knife and then chiselling out the wood that was not going
to be part of the picture. Ink was spread on the piece of wood and the
wood block was pressed against paper.
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| Many artists today still explore
the process of wood block carving. David Frampton used this old, old
way of making pictures to do the illustrations for Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun. Jane's son, David, created this fish picture for his high school art class by using the same process. |
About the Researching and Writing
"When I was a kid, growing up in Ethiopia, my family visited the
ancient cities of Axum and Gondar in northern Ethiopia one year. I had
always loved to read fairy tales. Now, here were real castles and
ruins! A fascination with the old, old kingdoms of the world took root
in my mind and never left. When I write about Ethiopia, I mostly draw
on my memories (though I always check things out with Ethiopian friends
or people who've lived in Ethiopia more recently than I have). But I
had no memories to use with the Inca kingdom. You have to know what
you're writing about--if you don't know it from first-hand experience,
you have to have the passion for doing lots and lots of reading and
studying about it. So writers usually pick things to write about that
they know well or are very interested in. That's how it was with me. I
read tons about the Inca empire, but it never seemed a chore because of
my fascination with ancient kingdoms." -- Jane Kurtz
Some of the most helpful books because of their details on Inca daily life were:
- Lords of Cuzco: A History and Description of the Inca Poeple in their Final Days by Burr Cartwright Brundage (University of Oklahoma Press)
- Incas: Lords of Gold and Glory (Time Life Books)
The Inca Empire and Its Andean Origins by Craig Morris and Adriana von Hagen (Abbeville Books)
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