I love Naro. I use it in my storytelling program for at-risk kids. It is a book that really speaks to children and has the ability to draw out their stories. I can't think of a more valuable book.

--Maureen Perone, Storyteller

Highly recommended...

-- Montgomery County, MD Public Schools

[Illustrations] are magnificent… language is lyrical...

-- Tacoma, WA Public Schools

Beautiful book, a symbolic telling of the creation…[illustrations are] perfect for this story, adding to the symbolism and interest

-- Eastern WA Book Review Council

Field-tested by two fourth grade students…they had nothing but favorable comments. This would be a good addition to the myth and legend section of the library.

-- Mary Norton, Lower Columbia, WA, Media Review Group

Teaching activities for Naro, the Ancient Spider

(Naro is pronounced 'narrow')
by Susan Joyce. Illustrations by Doug DuBosque

Questions to discuss: What is a myth? What questions do these early stories answer? (Examples: how did the world begin? where did people come from? why do we have light and dark?)

Create your own myth...

Divide students into small groups. Allow them three minutes to close their eyes and think -- to imagine a world IN THE BEGINNING... before there was day or night. Have each group share ideas, then write a myth, explaining the creation of the sun, the moon, or the stars. Perform each myth as a reader's theater production.

Sketch a spider...

Spiders (arachnids) frighten some people, and fascinate others. Many people don't really know much about spiders. Of the thousands of different spiders in the world, only a few are harmful to people. Most spiders are actually helpful. What do they do to help? What's the difference between a spider and an insect? Can any spiders fly? How many eyes does a spider have? How does a spider weave its web? After gathering all the facts and looking carefully at spiders, have students sketch a spider in action. You'll find instructions for drawing a tarantula in Draw Desert Animals. (by Doug DuBosque, Peel Productions, Inc: ISBN 0-939217-26-0

Sound it out...

Author Susan Joyce spent many years living and traveling abroad. Her fascination for native words and sounds inspired the unique 'Oieee-ah-ou-hoi....-- chant in Naro, the Ancient Spider. It combined the most 'beautiful, universal-- sounds she knew. Ask students what they feel when they hear this sound? Is it beautiful? Strange? Remember, beauty is in the ear of the beholder. Have students discuss words or sounds that say 'beautiful!-- 'Ugly!-- Organize students into teams. Instruct them to make a list of beautiful words, and then list their ugliest words. Have all teams present their sounds, one by one, as a chant.

Explore gifts...

Knowledge and power are gifts Naro the Younger uses to make the world a better place. What is knowledge? What is power? Is one born with knowledge and power? Or are they something we must work for? Have students discuss and make a list of people who have used their knowledge and power to make the world a better place.

Start a dream journal...

In Naro, the Ancient Spider, dreams deliver information to the main character. Discuss dreams. Are they important, and useful, or just silly? Famous inventors have used dreams to solve problems --could you? Have students share a dream they remember and the overall feeling (happy, sad, confused) they experienced. Explore any useful ideas students might get from their dreams. Have students start a dream journal.

 

Text copyright©1989 Susan Joyce - illustrations copyright©1990 Douglas C. Dubosque