ALST 603

Dr. Spangler
June 12, 2019

There are many stories from Southeast Alaska that feature the raven, or, Raven, as the

main character. These stories, or folktales, about Raven belong to specific indigenous Native

clans and are shared with others through oral retellings. When stories about Raven are retold

through a picture book, it is important for the writer, the illustrator, the publisher, and the buyer

to carefully and thoughtfully show respect. Today, people are more aware of the proper way to

retell a Raven folktale, but there are still many picture books that highlight the writers’ and

bookmakers’ ignorance in retelling a Raven folktale.

The children’s picture book The Stolen Sun: A Story of Native Alaska by Amanda Hall is,

at first glance, a book that seems to be a retelling of a Raven folktale. The illustrations are

beautifully made with watercolors and colored pencil. This book was both written and illustrated

by Amanda Hall. She lives in Cambridge, and has illustrated many children’s books, including

collections of myths and fables from other parts of the world.

The title of the book and the illustration on the cover immediately show that this story is

is about Raven. On the first page, there is a very large image of Raven, who looks mean or mad.

This illustration uses green and black to show “a land above the sky” where Raven lived. (Hall)

There are two illustrations that show a village of people. The first illustration shows a village

with stylized dome-type houses that are clustered together. The mountains are bare, but there are

non-descript trees near the water. The trees do not look like the typical trees found in Southeast

Alaska. The next illustration of the village shows the people killing five whales, a narwhal, and

three deer. The people are fighting with each other, burning their huts, stealing, crying, and

shoving. The text on the page says, “Raven watched and saw greed and violence spread like a
shadow across the land, and he grew angry” (Hall) The rest of the illustrations in the book show

less chaotic scenes of the land and Raven. It is notable that the illustration of the people and the

village is very negative. It should also be noted that the English-born writer chose to include

such a bloody, sad depiction of village life. This story is a little bit hard to follow, but the

illustrations are beautiful, especially pages that show Raven or Raven’s feathers.

The story tells how Raven took the sun from the sky, hid it in a secret place, and left the

land to freeze. Raven plucked one small feather and let it float down. That feather landed in a

stream, where a woman was drinking water. She accidentally drank the feather and eventually

gave birth to a baby boy who she named Little Darkness. The baby had dark eyes and was

somehow different than the other children. One day, he found a mask shaped like a bird’s head.

He put it on and was filled with power. He was able to fly and he went to the hole in the sky. He

eventually floated through the hole and above the sky where he found a bright light inside a

frozen mountainside. The boy was on a dangerous piece of thin ice and so Raven swooped down

to rescue him. Raven flew with the boy on his back. Raven grasped the sun and took it back to

the hole in the sky, where he cast it up into the sky again. The boy’s mother looked up and knew

her son was safe. The people had the sun back and the world would never live in darkness again.

After reading the forward, and the story itself, and then doing some quick research about

the author, I concluded that this story is not a retelling of a Raven folktale. This book can be

considered an example of fakelore (Dorson 1950). Inside the jacket cover is this quote, “How his

son, Little Darkness, brings light and Raven’s song back to the world is beautifully told and

illustrated by Amanda Hall in this original story woven from Native Alaskan folklore” (Hall).

The author/illustrator admits that this story is not a retelling of a Raven story. This entire story is
made up and not based on any specific Raven myth, folklore, or story. The author/illustrator,

who is from Cambridge, England, just decided to create her own Raven story.

This picture book can be considered to be fakelore because it tells a manufactured story.

This story about Raven is an invention by Hall and it is inauthentic and not traditional. In the

jacket cover, Hall tells us that this is “an original story woven from Native Alaskan folklore”

(Hall), yet the title of this book is The Stolen Sun: A Story of Native Alaska. The front cover also

shows an image of a boy with a Raven mask on. Hall is appropriating the feel and iconic image

of actual Native Alaskan Raven stories by creating her pseudo-folklore. She is basically stealing

the images, themes, plot, meanings, and beliefs of Native Alaskan Raven stories. Without

knowing her, my guess is that Hall wrote this book to “appeal to the tastes and desires of

publishers, promoters, and readers…” (Singer).

Hall’s use of the phrase “A Story of Native Alaska” on the cover of her book “suggests

continuity with a tradition. The label affords a mask of authenticity that entices the reader

seeking stories from that culture” (Singer). This exact scenario happened with Hall’s book. In the

Anchorage Region Native Resource Handbook, there is a section that lists children’s books that

are considered good resources for families who are fostering Native children. This means that

whoever compiled this handbook thought it would be a good idea to include an English writer’s

made-up story to share with Native Alaskan children. I am appalled.

There are many online reviews of this book. Every review that I read is positive. A

Kirkus review says, “Hall’s intricate illustrations have a folkloric feel. This, coupled with her

unique perspective on a common theme, make the dramatic read-aloud an easy addition to

multicultural collections” (Kirkus) It is not cute or ethical for Hall or her publishers to create a

fake Raven story. By writing a brand new Raven story, Hall is profiting from linking to Alaskan
Native culture and heritage. When readers are looking for a retelling of a Raven story, they might

not realize that this book is not an actual Raven story. Readers who pick up this book and expect

to be exposed to an actual Raven folktale will be disappointed or worse, they will never know

that they don’t have the real thing.

Dorson, Richard. 1950. Folklore and Fakelore. American Mercury 70:335-343.

Hall, Amanda. (2002). The Stolen Sun: A Story of Native Alaska. UK, Frances Lincoln Limited
by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

Kirkus Reviews.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amanda-hall/the-stolen-sun/

Native Resource Handbook Anchorage Region. (2010).

Singer. Fakelore, Multiculturalism, and the Ethics of Children's Literature.