Why The Sun and the Moon Live In the Sky

Why The Sun and the Moon Live In the Sky; a folktale told with a spin

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky is a Nigerian Folktale that is an clever creation story about why the Sun and Moon chose to live in the sky. Long ago they both lived on earth but after inviting their good friend Water to visit their new, huge home, the house flooded and the two had to escape up into the sky.

Target Age: can be modified for use from preschool to 2^nd grade

For this lesson, I actively illustrated the three main sequences of this story while oral telling the story. I used water colors and 3 sheets of pre-washed water color papers. The first canvas depicts the Sun and Water talking on earth and agreeing if the Sun built a big enough home the Water would come visit. The second canvas shows the Sun discussing with his wife Moon that they need to build a big house, to which the Moon agrees. The last canvas shows the house flooded with Water and all her “people”, with the Sun and Moon rushing up to safety in the sky.

The purpose of this conducting the lesson this way was multifaceted:

1.    To emphasize that folktales are old stories that were told orally.

2.    To emphasize that there is a beginning, middle, and end to stories. The final product of my water color illustrations clearly depicts these sequences of events so that students can retell the story in their own works (also underscoring that oral tales can change slightly depending on who is the story teller)

3.    To expose young children to a potential new medium—water colors—by modeling how the materials are used.

Additionally, this story lends itself to creative thinking about other aspects of the life. Students can be asked such things like “Why do you think the stars only come out at night?” Discussion can be had about the difference between fantasy and reality and how we can use fantasy to describe very real things.

Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky

An African Folktale*

Many years ago, the sun and water were great friends, and they both lived on the earth together. The sun very often used to visit the water, but the water never returned the visits.

At last the sun asked the water why he never visited. The water replied that the sun's house was not big enough, and that if he came with all his people, he would drive the sun out of his home.

The water then said, "If you want me to visit you, you will have to build a very large house. But I warn you that it will have to be very large, as my people are numerous and take up a lot of room".

The sun promised to build a very large house, and soon afterwards, he returned home to his wife, the moon, who greeted him with a broad smile.

The sun told the moon what he had promised the water, and the next day, they began building a large house to entertain the water and all his people.

When it was completed, the sun asked the water to come and visit him.

When the water arrived, one of his people called out to the sun, and asked him whether it would be safe for the water to enter, and the sun answered, "Yes, tell my friend to come in."

The water began to flow in, followed by the fish and all the other water animals.

Very soon, the water was knee-deep in the house, so he asked the sun if it was still safe, and the sun again said, "Yes," so more of them came in.

When the water was at the level of a man's head, the water said to the sun, "Do you want more of my people to come?"

Not knowing any better, the sun and the moon both said, "Yes,". More and more of the water's people came in, until the sun and the moon had to sit on top of the roof.

The water once again asked the sun if it was still okay to keep coming in. The sun and moon answered yes, so more and more of the water's people came in.

The water soon overflowed the top of the roof, and the sun and the moon were forced to go up into the sky.

...and they have been there ever since.

*This story was retrieved from http://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/African_Folktale_10.html.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky is available in book-format written Elphinstone Dayrell and Illustrated By Blair Lent; it is also a Caldecott Honors Book.