Teach the basics of astronomical and space science using lively retellings of traditional folktales and quality children's literature. Reproducible activities and project ideas that meet NSTA standards combine stories and facts with language arts, math, science, art, and music, using the multiple intelligences approach. An extensive bibliography and other resources, such as addresses for Web sites and organizations in the area of astronomy and space science, are included. Grades 3-6 (adaptable to other levels).

Explaining a solar eclipse, a Navajo tells his grandson that when the sun dies the children of Mother Earth are called from the four directions to repaint the universe in all the colors of the rainbow.

Sunset. Fire. Rainbow. Drawing on such common occurrences of light, Navajo artists have crafted an uncommon array of design in colored glass beads. Beadwork is an art form introduced to the Navajos through other Indian and Euro-American contacts, but it is one that they have truly made their own. More than simple crafts, Navajo beaded designs are architectures of light. Ellen Moore has written the first history of Navajo beadwork—belts and hatbands, baskets and necklaces—in a book that examines both the influence of Navajo beliefs in the creation of this art and the primacy of light and color in Navajo culture. Navajo Beadwork: Architectures of Light traces the evolution of the art as explained by traders, Navajo consultants, and Navajo beadworkers themselves. It also shares the visions, words, and art of 23 individual artists to reveal the influences on their creativity and show how they go about creating their designs. As Moore reveals, Navajo beadwork is based on an aggregate of beliefs, categories, and symbols that are individually interpreted and transposed into beaded designs. Most designs are generated from close observation of light in the natural world, then structured according to either Navajo tradition or the newer spirituality of the Native American Church. For many beadworkers, creating designs taps deeply embedded beliefs so that beaded objects reflect their thoughts and prayers, their aesthetic sensibilities, and their sense of being Navajo—but above all, their attention to light and its properties. No other book offers such an intimate view of this creative process, and its striking color plates attest to the wondrous results. Navajo Beadwork: Architectures of Light is a valuable record of ethnographic research and a rich source of artistic insight for lovers of beadwork and Native American art.

Harper's informs a diverse body of readers of cultural, business, political, literary and scientific affairs.

Presents a guide to nearly 27,000 children's oicture book titles grouped in over 1,200 subjects and indexed by author, title, and illustrator.