Remaking The Earth: A Creation Story from the Great Plains of North America

by Paul Goble

An Algonquin creation myth in which the animals dive for mud so the Creator can make dry land again

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Paul Goble was an award winning author and illustrator of children's books. He has won both the Caldecott Medal and The Library of Congress' Children's Book of the Year Award.
He gave his entire collection of original illustrations to the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, South Dakota.
Goble, a native of England, studied at the Central School of Art in London. He became a United States citizen in 1984. Goble's life-long fascination with Native Americans of the plains began during his childhood when he became intrigued with their spirituality and culture.
His illustrations accurately depict Native American clothing, customs and surroundings in brilliant color and detail. Goble researched ancient stories and retold them for his young audiences in a manner sympathetic to Native American ways.
Goble lived with his wife in Rapid City, SD.

Reviews

[Cam (Lana Belova) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The animals want to communicate with us,
but the Great Spirit does not intend they
shall do so directly; we must do the greater
part in securing an understanding."
-- Brave Buffalo, Lakota.

Joe Medicine Crow
Lodge Grass, Montana :
"I was fortunate as a boy because so many storytellers were ready to educate the young. Now the television is on all the time and the children no longer follow the elders—they don’t take the time to listen to their grandparents. In today’s world it is difficult to learn about the olden-day stories, so books that preserve this wisdom have great value. It is important that our young ones read books about traditional life and values, not just the Indians but all traditional peoples. Paul Goble has created many good books about our Indian ways. He creates good illustrations that accurately present our traditional costumes and crafts. He does careful research to be certain that his stories are authentic and he speaks with the elders to know what they think. The good result is there for all to see."

Paul Goble, Black Hills :
"When I first talked about doing this book, I was encouraged by my lifelong teacher, Marco Pallis, who said I would have to write it as a “spiritual essay.” This I have tried to do, because I always find the writing more difficult than the illustrations. If the language seems to lack descriptive words and phrases, it is nevertheless in keeping with Native American oral tradition: the storyteller picks his words carefully, speaking slowly; often with incremental repetitions, he keeps to the story narrative, while leaving much to the listener’s imagination. For the same reason dolls were traditionally made without any features so children could use their own imagination. When writing I try to “hear” the way Edgar Red Cloud used to tell me stories when I was young. He was a well known Lakota storyteller, tall, handsome, softly spoken, and still of the old oral tradition, for he also spoke with his hands and facial expressions. All of these things, dear readers and listeners, you must try to see and hear with inward eyes and ears. Mitakuye oyasin—all my relatives—we are all related."



Art by Paul Goble

[Christy MacLaren · Rating 4 out of 5]

• A synthesis (not summary) of your book WRITTEN IN YOUR OWN WORDS that includes the genre of the book and the grade-level(s) in which you would use this book

Remaking the Earth by Paul Goble is a Native American folklore story about creation. The book discusses how the earth was formed and populated thanks to the Earth Maker. I would recommend this book for 4th or 5th graders to help students learn about different cultures and viewpoints.

• 2-3 specific ideas for how you would use the book in your classroom or how other educators could use this book instructionally (these need to be YOUR IDEAS, not ideas that you found from another source),

I could use this book for students to practice the comprehension strategies of visualizing and connecting. I could have students practice using their five senses to describe what is happening in the story. I would provide students paper for them to draw and write down what they think they would hear, smell, touch, and taste. I would stop them at certain places in the text to prompt them to use their five senses to describe the specific part in the story. I would also use this to help students make connections. As we read, I would have them write down on sticky notes text to text, text to world, and text to self. Then I would have students compare their connections with a partner.

• An explanation (implicit or explicit) of WHY this book was a WOW book for you, and

This book was a WOW book for me because it shows students a glimpse into another culture. It lets students know that the world is a place bigger than themselves and there is more than one way of thinking.

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's note at the beginning was very informative and explained why he wrote the story as he did. It was important to read about the affect the missionaries had on creation stories and I am glad that this was stated. I was also glad the author lists references and encourages readers to read other tales. Creation stories are interesting to read and I enjoyed this one. However, I did not like the illustrations or the font at all. I found them very distracting to the story, including the footnotes provided on each page. I would have preferred a glossary or explanations at the back of the book. I have never been bothered by the font of a book before; I just find it very harsh. This would still be a great introduction to the beliefs of the Great Plains Indians.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

398.2 Goble. Goble's explanation in the beginning of this Plains Indian creation story tells why the story has been influenced by Christianity's Book of Genesis. He states that he has tried to filter the influences out to deliver the myth as closely to what would have been told during "Buffalo Days". It's not one of my favorite of Goble's books, but it did explain some of their symbolism, such as Grandmother Turtle who carried the world on her back. I can't help but wonder what Native American creation stories would have been like before Euro-American influence.

[Audrey Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

PICTURE BOOK
Beautiful, authentic illustrations! Very representative of Native American culture. I love that the story shows the relationship of Natives to Earth.

[Shannon Futrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a creation story of the earth. This book is great for the classroom because it teaches the beliefs of the Native Americans living in the Great Plains of North America.

[Ms. Argueta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandra Carolina Argueta
March 31, 2016
ETEC 545
Creation Myth: Goble, Paul. Remaking the Earth. Orchard Books, New York 1996
This story derives from the Great Plains of North America, from the Cheyenne Indians, Blackfoot and Arapaho First Nations. It begins by showing the earth covered in water and only water animals living there. The water animals had nowhere to rest, or lay their eggs and begged Earth Maker to give them back the land. God, Earth Maker, asked all the animals to help bring mud from the bottom of the sea. The only successful one in this endeavor was the little black Coot who with all her might dived down and retrieved a piece of solid land. From this little piece of earth, God was able to summon Turtle who agreed to carry the Earth on her back ‘till the end of time. The text describes in detail all the steps taken by Earth Maker to make the most gorgeous planet possible. Foot notes further explain the relevance to the Native culture and ties everything together.
The images in this beautiful picture book are executed by using water colors. Each page is filled with huge images that tell this magical narrative from the eyes of these native cultures in great detail- each page a chapter in the process of a benevolent God who answers prayers and wants to create the most balanced and rhythmic world possible for his subjects, and assured them he would always be there for them.
The image of Earth Maker is left to the imagination of the reader as in keeping with Native American tradition.
Ages 6-13 (grades 1-7th).