This story begins with a little girl explaining to her (presumably younger) brother that theirs is a world of “amoxtlalpan,” which we learn from the glossary means “a land of books.” They are Mexhicah, an ancient Mesoamerican civilization that flourished between the fourteen and sixteenth centuries, and who are usually referred to in English as the Aztecs. Their parents are “painters of words,” making codices, or long strips of paper that formed books made entirely of paintings. The people in the codices are always drawn flat and facing sideways; they were not meant to be realistic, but rather were stylized pictograms, similar, Tonatiuh suggests, to emojis we use today. Interestingly, readers learned to interpret the colors, positions of hands, and other features of the drawings to know the ranks and even names of people depicted in the codices.

Many of the codices were destroyed during the Spanish conquest and in the years afterward. Catholic priests who came over to convert the indigenous people thought the books were the work of the devil and burned codices when they found them. Tonatiuh writes:

“It is impossible to know exactly how many Mesoamerican books were destroyed, but it was a large number. The bishop Diego de Landa wrote in the 1560s that he burned thousands of Maya documents and artifacts in a single day. The knowledge and stories that people of Mesoamerica had painted in books and collected over centuries were destroyed by the flames of a fire in a few hours.”

As usual, Tonatiuh combines meticulous research with outstanding art in the mesoamerican style to bring attention to history that should be better known. The little girl tells her brother about the importance of bookmaking in their culture, how the codices were constructed, and how the colors were made. She described the different kinds of books, including those that kept count of days and those that suggested cures for illnesses, inter alia.

Not everyone could read the books though, the little girl explained: only noblemen, priests, and wise elders had access to them and were taught how to interpret them.

She also educates her brother about their religion, legends about their past, and how their empire was built.

The story concludes on the day of the annual flower festival, when performers sing the words in the codices. [Tonatiuh illustrated a book by Gloria Amescua on the flower song festival, called Child of the Flower-Song People reviewed by us here.]

The little girl ends her narration to her brother with the hope, “May our world always be an amoxtlalpan - a land of books!”

Back matter includes a glossary of words in Nahuatl (the language spoken by the Aztecs) with pronunciation guide, an extensive author’s note which expands upon the history of Mesoamerican codices, a bibliography, and list of websites where you can see reproductions of codices.

Evaluation:: Any book written and/or illustrated by award-winner Duncan Tonatiuh is a treat. Tonatiuh creates gorgeous folkloric art work, using the pictures to enlarge upon the text. Because the illustrations also tell the story without words, they serves to extend the recommended age range of his books (in this case, ages 4 to 8).

Tonatiuh (see how to pronounce his name here where he reveals that his last name is the name of the Aztec God of the Sun) wrote on the Seven Impossible Things blog about his art work:

“My artwork is very much inspired by Pre-Columbian art, especially by Mixtec codices from the 14th century. That is why my art is very geometric, my characters are always in profile, and their ears look a bit like the number three. My intention is to celebrate that ancient art and keep it alive.”

Kids could try their hands at making their own modern versions of codices using emojis. ( )

Highly recommend pairing this with the audio version, whose narrator, a fluent Nahuatl speaker, brings the many Nahuatl words to life. ( )