This is a really nice collection of stories form different cultures that explain the how the sun, moon, and stars got in the sky. This would be a good book to read before a unit on astronomy. ( )

Chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1963, The Sun Is a Golden Earring presents a series of folk beliefs and sayings, concerning the sun, the moon, and the other celestial objects and forces. From the Hawaiian belief that the stars were once the beads on a woman's necklace, to the Malayan tradition that the rainbow is the fishing line of the king of the dragons, many cultures and beliefs are represented. The titular statement, that the sun is a golden earring, comes from India.

Although I was happy enough to learn of these various beliefs, almost all previously unknown to me, I found that on the whole this was as unsatisfying a book as Belting and Bryson's subsequent Calendar Moon, which also gave a summarized "listing" of various folk beliefs, in that case, concerning the lunar calendar. I think this would have been a much stronger title, if the author had taken one or two of the sayings listed, and explored the full story behind them. Perhaps an anthology of sky legends?

As it is, this was interesting - I learned that the moon is said in Hungary to be a white cat, hunting mice; that the sky is said to be a tent roof in Siberia; and that to the people of the Society Islands, the Milky Way is the sail of a great canoe, passing through the stars - but it felt incomplete. The illustrations by Bernarda Bryson, which look like detailed pencil drawings on paper of various colors, were not really to my taste. All in all, I'm glad to have read this little book, but not especially impressed by it. ( )

The sun is a golden earring is a well thought out folktale about the sun. The book goes on to describe the different natural aspects (sun, moon, thunder, etc) of the world according to their culture. Beautiful illustrations.