Creation Stories from Around the World

 

What are creation stories? In the introduction to her book In the Beginning, Virginia Hamilton writes, "They are the truth to the people who believe in them and live by them" (ix). As long as there have been people on this Earth, they have created stories to account for the greatest mysteries of existence - How did we get here? Who created us? Why are things the way they are? How were they before?

Countless authors and illustrators have set out to share these stories with children through picture and verse. This website introduces you to some of these stories and invites you to seek out the many similarities, differences, and inherent wisdom present in the many cultures of our planet.

 

   
   

 

Created by Hope Rokosz
LIS 303
Literature and Resources for Children
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Fall 2002