The Fifth and Final Sun: An Ancient Aztec Myth of the Sun's Origin

by Shana Greger

An Aztec creation myth about the origins of the sun describes the evolution of the five suns and the epic struggle that ensued for control of the most powerful position in the universe, until the coming of the fifth sun, which we live with today.

1 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 1994

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations.

[Scott Houston · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading about the Fifth and Final Sun, I can definitely determine that it is a text for older readers, I would not share it with my Kindergarten class. The Mayan gods in the story have difficult names that even older elementary students could spend time deciphering. The story offers great insight into the Mayan historical culture with their legend of how the sun and space came to be. For classroom instruction I would use it to teach the class about Mayan folklore and to compare how the class thinks the world came to be compared to the Mayan view. I would recommend this book to other teachers because the class could compare our modern ideas about the universe compared to the Mayan view of Gods being suns, planets, or space.