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FOLKTALES AND NURSERY RHYMES
Sanford, Adaiah

The Legend of the Spirit Serpent

40 pp. | Reycraft | May, 2022 | Trade ISBN 9781478875178 $17.95
(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ken Daley. In this legend set in precolonial Dominica, Natari, a plucky eight-year-old Kalinago girl, is fascinated by the Great Spirit Serpent, her tribe’s wish-granting tutelary deity who dwells in a treasure cave that only tribal leaders may enter. After Natari saves her clan from starvation, she feels emboldened to visit the fearsome Serpent. Surprised by her unusual request for his friendship, the creature transforms into a human boy who takes her on a magical journey through the fabric of time and reality and warns her of the impending arrival of European colonizers. This discussion-worthy picture book based on the myth of the snake king upholds courage, disrupts gender stereotypes, and helps fill the gaping need for children’s literature featuring indigenous Caribbean characters. Daley employs intense colors that underscore the vitality of indigenous communities and cosmology.
Reviewer: Summer Edward

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