Rain Player

Product Information

Unsurprisingly, they lose the creature (which they alternately nickname Jersey and Bonechewer), which forces them to go to their intimidating, decidedly odd teacher, Peruvian Professor Fauna, for help in recovering it. the text wasn't to impressive but i might crack this book open again some day if i see it and look at the illustrations because they were the best part of the book.

His father gave him a jaguar tooth to make him fierce, a quetzal feather for silent speed, and the water of the sacred cenote. The ancient Mayan belief that the future was divinely decreed and could not be changed is the basis for this original tale of a boy who must defeat the Rain God in a ball game to save his people from disaster. This would help his challenge with the God to pok-a-tok and if he wins there will be no more drought.Regardless, this is an immensely satisfying, accomplished work, resonating first with longing and then with joy.

Although not fully giving the reader a true sense of Mayan identity it is a good stepping stone for those who may be interested or those who need a bit of a cultural change in their reading no matter what their age may be. As a boy of nine, Booker works in a salt mine from the dark of early morning to the gloom of night, hungry for a meal, but even hungrier to learn to read.In this cultural legend, one has to appeal humbly and righteously to nature to bring the rain that nourishes the corn, and thereby nourishes life. A Jersey Devil: a blue-furred, red-bellied and -winged mythical creature that looks like “a tiny dragon” with cloven hooves, like a deer’s, on its hind feet. Wisniewski evolved the storytelling techniques and art skills that eventually led to his picture books with their unique cut-paper illustrations. He was subsequently hired by his future wife, Donna, as a performer with a traveling puppet theatre. The book closes with Professor Fauna revealing the truth—he heads a secret organization committed to protecting mythical creatures—and inviting the children to join, a neat setup for what is obviously intended to be a series.