The SON OF THE SUN AND THE DAUGHTER OF THE MOON

The SON OF THE SUN AND THE DAUGHTER OF THE MOON

From School Library JournalGrade 2-5-When the sun tries to marry his son to the moon's daughter, the moon hides the child on Earth, where she is raised by a kind old couple who name her Vanishia. She eventually falls in love with Luminias, the leader of the Brothers of the Northern Lights. They are married, but Luminias must come and go each day before the sun comes up. Vanishia tricks him into staying with her too long one night, and when he opens the door, the rising sun slays him and hurls her into the sky. Her mother catches her and holds her close, and her shadow is still visible on the face of the moon. Though no sources are given, this telling is similar to that in James Riordan's The Sun Maiden and the Crescent Moon (Interlink, 1991), and the narrative is well paced and appealing. The watercolor illustrations evoke the colors of the north, and the well-varied layout and perspectives add to the smoothness of the story, though the human figures are stiff. A unique contribution from a culture not often represented in children's literature.Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CACopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.When the moon hides her daughter away so that the sun's son cannot marry her, great problems arise for her when she flees to the Brothers of the Northern Lights and suddenly falls in love with Luminias.From Publishers WeeklyUneven artwork does little to fill in the gaps of this disjointed tale set in the land of the Northern Lights (presumably the Saami region, though this term is never explained). Disapproving of a proposed marriage ("the son of a hot-headed sun is no match for my daughter"), Mother Moon places her baby girl in a human family with an old couple in the far North. In the space of a spread, the girl, Vanishia, grows to be a beauty. News of her whereabouts eventually reaches Solvake, son of the sun, but she rebuffs his advances, and her moon mother suddenly appears to lead her to the cabin of the Brothers of the Northern Lights. Predictably, she falls in love with Luminias, their leader, but their union is short-lived when the sun kills him. The grieving moon daughter still refuses to marry Solvake, so the sun flings her into the sky, where her mother catches her. Inconsistencies plague Huth's (Darkfright) narrative (Why does Mother Moon wait so long to reveal herself to her daughter? Does the sun kill Luminias because Solvake is jealous of him or because he goes out into the sunlight?). Vojtech's compositions often play cool-toned, mystical watercolors against garish, almost superimposed images of the sun. The strongest, most integrated illustration shows the sun's fury as he casts arrows down from the sky, but this as well as the climactic image of Luminias's and Vanishia's meeting is occluded by the gutter. Ages 5-8. (May)Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.From BooklistThis folktale from the Saami (an indigenous people of northern Scandinavia) tells of the conflict between the male sun and the female moon over whether their children should marry. The moon hides her new daughter with an old couple, who name her Vanishia. The son of the sun, Solvake, eventually finds the girl and falls in love with her, but Vanishia loves Luminias, one of the Brothers of the Northern Lights who must fly away each sunset "to the battle of the skies." When Vanishia tricks Luminias into staying with her till the daylight, he is killed by the sun. The sun tries to catch Vanishia, but she flees into her mother's arms, where she still remains: "If you look closely, you can see the shadow of her face on the moon." The watercolor paintings contrast the fiery brightness of the sun with the cool blues and luminescence of the moon, making each celestial representation equally beautiful in its own way. A poignant, unusual story for children old enough to enjoy a romance that does not end happily ever after. Susan Dove LempkeCopyright