Legends of a Lake: Three Stories from the Island That Paves the World

Everything has an origin story. Pitch Lake, a natural tar pit in Trinidad hailed as the eighth wonder of the world, has at least three—Mom’s, Dad’s and Granny Patsy’s! Author Celeste Mohammed and artist Mariyah Rahman, both Trinidadian creators, present a playful picture book about the origin story of tar, which we use to build our roads, highways, and runways.

Bryan and Granny Patsy watch the construction workers and their trucks and tractors pave the street. But where does the tar come from? Granny Patsy tells Bryan the story of Pitch Lake, a magical (and smelly) pit in Trinidad that is full of natural tar, and how it was created as the Chima tribe’s great punishment from the gods. But Mom has a different story about Pitch Lake. Hers has pirates and explorers. Dad’s story is different, too—his features dinosaurs.

Award-winning Trinidadian author Celeste Mohammed spins three legends into one book—a tale of the world's largest natural asphalt deposit in La Brea, Trinidad, which supplies pitch all over the world. Accompanied by sun-drenched artwork by Mariyah Rahman, who was also born and raised in Trinidad, Legends of a Lake is a reader-friendly ode to storytelling, family, and cultural history. For fans of The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton and The Littlest Drop by Sascha Alper, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney. Includes backmatter about the science and history of La Brea.