Fire Race: A Karuk Coyote Tale of How Fire Came to the People

by Lanny Pinola and Jonathan London

Book Overview

It will take a lot of searching to find a more beautifully illustrated or carefully rsearched adaptation that this retelling of the Karuk tale of how fire came to the peopel.--American Bookseller,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811814882
• ISBN13: 9780811814881
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 9.8" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Really good tale --

This is a story telling how the "animal people" long ago had no fire, and how they got it. Coyote figures prominently in the story, as the group's leader, but each animal plays a specific role. While i wouldn't recommend this story as an exemplary book, it nevertheless captivated my kindergarten ESL classes through repeated readings. Solely on the strength of the story and their interest in hearing it told, i was able to slowly glide them from a part Chinese-part English initial reading into a total English telling of the story, over a period of a couple of weeks. We acted out the story as a class for graduation, and the kids had a happy and thrilling time putting it all together. Social cooperation and the ethics of possession are all essential to the tale, which basically consists of the Animal People stealing fire from the recalcitrantly greedy Yellow-jacket sisters. In the end, though, the Willow captures the fire and holds it fast, but thanks to Grandfather Coyote's ingenuity the animal people learn how to coax fire out from the wood.The pictures are colorful and vibrant, and quite expressive of the story; the text is weak in some places, but never fails to convey the drive of the plot. With the proper performance, this book becomes a lively chase with a happy ending.

A Great Tale

The Fire Race is a wonderful tale. It has great illustrations and the different characters really come to life. The whole story is full of action. It's a great tale about how we got fire.

Excellent illustrations and engaging story

A beautifully illustrated book. The story involves lots of "wild" animals that even a little 2 year old will enjoy this tale. It is similar to the "Very Busy Spider" in its animals helping each other. All my kids love this tale from the 8 year old to the 1 1/2 year old.