MY FATHER ONCE TOLD ME

A father shares a celestial creation story passed down through generations in Telleria’s picture book.

By a campfire deep in a forest, a child asks, “Hey Dad… how was the world made?” Recalling what his own father told him, Dad explains that in the beginning there was only the Great Spirit and his starry animal children in the black nothingness. The Great Spirit made a round blue “Something,” and Whale, Salmon, Bear, Moose, Buffalo, and the others dove into it, and shaped its oceans, land, mountains, trees, and rivers as they played. Water Snake, for instance, slithers from the ocean to the land creating rivers behind her. Eventually, the animals return to their starry forms. Konkol’s fantasy illustrations show vast skies and landscapes in rich, dark blues and greens, flaming reds, and white light; detailed linework gives texture to trees and animals. In their constellation-like form, the animals are fun to identify. The prose tells a complex tale in simple terms, returning at the end to Dad and his kid. A refrain (“The animals in the stars that made it”) in the beginning is poetically echoed by the whispering fire and the darkness. The book beautifully honors the way stories are passed down through generations, and the majesty of the natural world.

A comforting journey through the night sky, down to Earth, and back again.