Part of Finn Bevan's Landscapes of Legend series - which details the relationship between geography and legend for young readers, using a combination of factual information and mythological selections - Sacred Skies presents six tales from the diverse folk traditions of the world, each centered upon some celestial object or phenomenon. Preceding every selection is a page or two of basic scientific and cultural information, pertaining to the object in question (the sun, the moon, the stars), and the society from which the story came.

In The Day the Sun Went Out, Amaterasu - the Japanese goddess of the sun - retreats to a cave after an argument with her brother Susano, the storm god, plunging the world into darkness. Lady in the Moon relates the tale of the Chinese goddess Chang E, whose foolish action - in swallowing all of the elixir of everlasting life - lands her on the moon. The Greek myth of Orion the Hunter, and how he became a constellation, is retold in The Hunter in the Sky; while the Aztec tradition, in which the life-giving rains are create by the god Tlaloc, is set out in Lord of the Rains. The existence of the rainbow is explained in the Aboriginal tale, The Rainbow Comes to Earth, in which a rainbow spirit lives for a time with the people, in the shape of a snake. Finally, the Norse legend concerning the loss of Mjöllnir - the hammer of the mighty god Thor, which, when used to kill giants, caused the lightning and thunder - is told in Thor's Lost Hammer.

I liked the concept of this series, tying legend and myth to place, and demonstrating the importance of geography in shaping culture and belief. I also liked the overall presentation of this volume, with the pairing of fact and fiction. Diana Mayo's accompanying illustrations were colorful and charming - I particularly liked the beautiful portraits of Amaterasu and Chang E. The tales themselves were somewhat simplistic retellings of more complicated stories, but perhaps that is to be expected in a volume that is aimed at elementary school students. All in all, an engaging start to this thematic folktales series! ( )