Pushing Up the Sky

Title: Pushing Up the Sky

Author: Joseph Bruchac

Illustrator: Stefano Vitale

Theme: myth/legend

Summary: This Native American story comes from the Snohomish people, whose chiefs and villagers were upset that the sky was so low and they were constantly bumping their heads or getting things lost in the sky. They decide unanimously to push up the sky and succeed in doing so by pushing all together using long poles. The poles poked holes in the sky, revealing stars shining through, which are still present there today.

Characters: Tall Man, Girl, Mother, Boy, seven Chiefs, and Narrator

Comments: This story is great because it is written in play form, easily lending itself to reenactment by students as a class or in small groups. It also opens the door for a fun (and often very interesting) creative writing assignment in which students can make up their own tales about how or why something in nature came to be.

Grade level: First-Second