THE BOY WHO WOULDN'T OBEY

In mythology, disobeying the gods is generally a Bad Idea, but in this retold Mayan tale it leads to a happy ending. Deciding that he needs a new servant, rain god Chac snatches a lad known (except to Chac, of course) for his willfulness. An ensuing series of mishaps culminates in the boy's expropriation of Chac’s thunder, lightning, rain, and wind—all of which run destructively wild. Infuriated, Chac blasts the boy back where he came from, the net result being a joyful family reunion. Rockwell (Show and Tell Day, 2000) draws motifs and details from classical Mayan art for her brightly colored, page-filling scenes, and depicts Chac as a comic figure, green-haired, covered in blue scales, with a long handlebar mustache waving beneath an oversized nose. This story has not appeared in picture-book form since Betty Baker's No Help at All, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully (1978), and like several more recently recast Mayan myths, reveals a lighter side to a mysterious, little-known culture. (introduction, source notes) (Picture book/folktale. 79)