"I shall give to you, a special home upon my weathered back where rivers run beneath the sun in red and gold and black. To rest upon the water blue, a land so new, a land so new." This is spoken by the great painted turtle, Makinauk in the a new book retelling the tale of Mackinac Island's creation: The Legend of Mackinac Island written by Kathy-jo Wargin and illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen. For those unfamiliar with the legend, a brief synopsis of the tale is probably in order: A wise, old turtle named Makinauk tells the other animals one day that the Great Spirit in the sky has told him it is time to create a new land. The creation is to be accomplished by putting a handful of the bottom of Lake Huron on the turtle's back. After several animals try, an unlikely candidate returns to the surface with the soil. Upon placing it on Makinauk's back, the turtle is transformed into a great island.
The book opens upon the brilliant blue waters which covered the world before man, before indeed there was any land. The reader is drawn into this magical time through rich prose and paintings which tell a classic tale of courage and creation which culminates in the changing of the world. Review of Legend of the Sleeping Bear |
