There was no starlight or moonbeams. There were no night creatures and no night flowers to fill the air with perfume. Everywhere there was only sunlight and brightness and heat.
In graceful, deeply felt text and bold, brilliant pictures, this story shows how an ancient African sea goddess brings the gift of night to the land of daylight. With the coming of night there is not only beauty and wonder of night flowers opening their petals at dusk, of stars and moonbeams flickering across the sky, and of the gentle chorus of night creatures, but there is rest, too. For when the dark, cool blanket of night covers everything, the people can then leave their work from under Brazil’s bright, hot sun.
This traditional story expresses Brazil’s unbroken connection to Africa as it show how one woman finds peace and hope in a strange new land. Celebrating all the beauty of the lush, tropical night, here is a tale that will be long remembered.
- ISBN: 9780316308557
- Published: 1994 , Little Brown & Co (Juv)
- Themes: Culture, Folktales and Fairytales, Goddess, Night, sea
- Descriptors: Americas, Brazil, Folklore and Fairy Tales, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9)
- No. of pages: 32