When the World Had No Colors: Further Resources

Musicians of the Sun

Magical Rain Theaterworks production of "When the World Had No Colors" was inspired by this wonderful telling of this Aztec myth in this book (written and beautifully illustrated by the artist, storyteller and mythologist Gerald McDermott). His words and images transport the reader into another time and another place that seems magical, mysterious and yet somehow familiar to our hearts. We strongly reccomend this book for any library collection. Geared for younger readers.

Moctezuma and the Aztecs

A fun and well researched introduction to Aztec culture and the mixes, clashes and exchanges of food, music, weapons, beliefs and more that happened when Cortez and Spain encountered Moctezuma and the Aztecs. Note that the editorial review on Amazon is quite negative, which we consider unfair and misinformed. The reviewer did not like the multimedia "MTV" style of the book, but we think this style will appeal to the older elementary or middle school students it is geared for, and the information it presents is far more accurate and well researched than most similar titles on this subject that are available for students this age.

Encounter

While not specifically about the Aztecs, this story by Jane Yolen (about the landing of the first European sailors on the island of the Taino peoples) is an excellent introduction to encounters between Spanish and Portugese explorers and the native peoples of the New World. This book deals in a sensitive way (from a child's perspective) with complex and intense cultural issues involving trust, greed and the difficulties inherent in encountering strangers. A profound and haunting story that can be a great discussion starter for a teacher wanting to help young people see colonization, exploration and the encounters of the New World from multiple perspectives. Appropriate for all ages of elementary students.

Moctezumas Mexico: Visions of the Aztec World

This book is an excellent reference on Aztec culture for teachers and adult readers. We are especially partial to it because it is dedicated to Dr. Ike! Both Dr. Ike and the author (Professor David Carrosco of Harvard University) were graduate students at the University of Chicago and colleagues the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Music of Latin America

We have had difficulty finding easily available sources of music CDs or videos with indiginous music from Mexico. We did, however, find a reference to this video in a very well done bibliography on Aztec music compiled by a teacher in Denver who created a curriculum called The Importance of Music in the Life of the Aztec People.