Books like Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns
By Duncan Tonatiuh
For kids who ask where people came from and want an answer bigger than one sentence, this creation myth gives them gods, failure, and one determined hero who tries anyway. Epic, mythic, and reverent, with a quest that feels ancient and grand.
A boy sets out to find his father, the Lord of the Sun, and must pass through four ceremonial chambers — the kiva of lions, snakes, bees, and lightning — to prove he belongs.
A clever spider man sets out to buy all the world's stories from the Sky God, who demands an impossible price: a fierce leopard, a fire-stinging hornet, and a fairy no one can see.
A poor boy who longs to paint is given a magic paintbrush that brings to life whatever he creates, until a greedy emperor sets out to capture him and claim its power for himself.
A legendary railroad worker, born with a hammer in his hand and stronger than anyone around, takes on a steam drill to see who can dig through a mountain faster.
A young traveler sets off into the wide world, soaring to great heights and seeing amazing sights, but also facing slumps, lurches, and lonely stretches along the way.
A poor woodcutter's two children, abandoned in the forest, discover a house made of bread, cakes, and candy — and the wicked witch who lives there has a taste for children.
A NASA rover named Curiosity tells her own story of traveling more than 350,000,000 miles to Mars, where she explores a planet no human has ever visited in search of signs of life.
A restless chicken named Louise leaves the henhouse craving adventure, facing pirates on the high seas, a lion under the big top, and a mysterious stranger in a bustling bazaar.
Two sisters wake before sunrise six days a week to practice tennis, pushing through boos and taunts from a sport that didn't expect them, on their way to becoming legends.
A traveling trickster arrives in a village too terrified to celebrate Hanukkah, and must outwit a houseful of goblins — one each night — before facing their monstrous King.
A girl who grows up watching fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains notices they blink in perfect unison — and sets out to convince skeptical scientists that the dazzling synchronized show is real.
A boy in Punjab, born with weak legs that kept him from playing cricket or walking to school, grows stronger year by year on his family's farm and eventually runs marathons at over one hundred years old.
