Maria Garcia Esperon

I loved reading these stories. Almost all of them were new to me, not just in the ways the stories unfolded, but in the cosmologies they represent. But I wish the book had been organized differently.

The stories are shuffled together, irrespective of origin, so it's difficult to get a sense for what the Nahua or the Taino or the Andean peoples believe. Instead, the details of each pantheon of gods or heroic figures or creation tales all blend together. And if I hoped to pick up some of the pronunciation for each people's sacred figures? That proved time-consuming and frustrating as the book bounced from one language to another.

Along the same lines, while there's a thorough pronunciation guide in the backmatter, none of the cultures are given pronunciations. And while the glossary does an excellent job of defining and instructing on pronunciation for the gods, heroes, and monsters in the stories, it doesn't bother defining anything else, even when those unknown words aren't given much context in the stories, themselves.

There are also several cultures which receive very little attention in the book—mostly those in North America—and when I checked the bibliography, there weren't many sources listed that might allow me to explore those cultures further. A Recommended Reading section would've been really helpful, especially if those books had been vetted by the experts listed in the "special thanks."

I'm glad books like this are getting published more and more regularly, but they're still pretty thin on the ground, and this one was not as satisfying or enlightening as I hoped it would be. My mind feels stuffed with new stories, but I don't really have a sense of who those stories represent or how those people might have seen, or still see, the world.… (mais)

DESDE LA TIERRA DE FUEGO A LOS GRANDES LAGOS, DESDE ALASKA A LAS ANTILLAS, A LO LARGO DE LOS ANDES Y SIGUIENDO EL CURSO DEL RÍO AMAZONAS, LOS MITOS DE AMÉRICA NOS REVELAN UN UNIVERSO MÁGICO LLENO DE ENSEÑANZAS PARA NUESTRO TIEMPO. DE LA ABUELA ARAÑA DE LOS HOPIS AL BLANCO ZAMNÁ DE LOS MAYAS, ESTE DICCIONARIO CORRE LOS SUEÑOS Y LAS LEYENDAS DE LOS HOMBRES Y MUJERES QUE HAN VIVIDO EN EL SUELO AMERICANO DESDE LOS REMOTOS TIEMPOS DEL ORIGEN. NARRACIONES QUE NOS HABLAN DE RELÁMPAGOS Y HURACANES , DE DILUVIOS E HISTORIAS DE AMOR; DE LA UNIÓN DE LAS SEMILLAS CON LOS DIOSES Y LOS HOMBRES, CON ANIMALES Y LAS ESTRELLAS. SABIDURÍA ANCESTRAL, DE LA A A LA Z.
MARÍA GARCÍA ESPERÓN NACIÓ EN LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO EN 1964. HIZO ESTUDIOS DE CIENCIAS HUMANAS Y LETRAS CLÁSICAS. HA OBTENIDO EL PREMIO BARCO DE VAPOR, EL PREMIO LATINOAMERICANO DE LITERATURA INFANTIL Y JUVENIL NORMA FUNDALECTURA Y EL PREMIO HISPANOAMÉRICANO DE POESÍA PARA NIÑOS. SU NOVELA "DIDO PARA ENEAS" FUÉ SELECCIONADA EN 2016 EN LA LISTA DE HONOR DE IBBY. EN "EL NARANJO" TAMBIÉN HA PUBLICADO "COPO DE ALGODÓN" Y "EL ANILLO DE CÉSAR".… (mais)