The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas

Fifteen thousand years before Europeans stepped foot in the Americas, people had already spread from tip to tip and coast to coast. Like all humans, these Native Americans sought to understand their place in the universe, the nature of their relationship with the divine, and the origin of the world into which their ancestors had emerged. The answers lay in their sacred stories.

Author María García Esperón, illustrator Amanda Mijangos, and translator David Bowles have gifted us a treasure. Their talents have woven this collection of stories from nations and cultures across our two continents—the Sea-Ringed World, as the Aztecs called it—from the edge of Argentina all the way up to Alaska

María García Esperón was born in Mexico City and has won many awards including the Hispanic American Poetry Award for Children. Her novel Dido for Aeneas was selected in 2016 on the IBBY Honour List.

Amanda Mijangos was born in Mexico City and is the founder of the illustration studio Cuarto para las 3. Her work has been recognized with awards several times and in 2017 she was the winner of the VIII Iberoamerica Illustra Catalog.

David Bowles is a Mexican American author and translator from South Texas. Among his multiple award-winning books are Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico, and They Call Me Güero. In 2017, David was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.

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★ “Visually striking...full of vivid language.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ “A rich anthology to understand and delight in Native traditions.” —Booklist (starred review)

★ “Begs to be read aloud.” —Kirkus (starred review)

★ “Impressive, handsome, and universally appealing.” —Horn Book (starred review)

★ “Breathtaking and simply beautiful.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

★ "The language sparkles and the tales beg to be read aloud." —School Library Connection (starred review)

“Hypnotizing...Provocative...Disarming.” —The New York Times

“Evocative and stirring...mesmerizing to read aloud.”—The Wall Street Journal 

“Visually arresting, captivating collection of traditional stories.” —Shelf-Awareness 

“David Bowles’ graceful translation renders this volume an excellent addition to any storytelling collection.” —BCCB

“With its one-of-a-kind art to accompany each tale, it is a collection that will appeal to children, but also to any lover and collector of books." —BookRiot

“With aplomb, translator and narrator David Bowles delivers a wide-ranging collection of traditional tales from Native cultures across the Americas. Speaking in American-accented English, Bowles manages to be expressive and serious without veering into hokeyness; his unobtrusive approach gives primacy to the stories themselves. Packed with gods and humans, creation and transformation, the stories all begin with a few lines of verse, which aids in transitioning from one brief tale to the next. Some listeners may prefer to take in only a few tracks at a time so that they're not overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of characters and cultures depicted. Regardless of how listeners choose to experience it, this accessible audio anthology is both important and entertaining. R.A.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2021]