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STORIES BY FIRELIGHT
Stories by Firelight
62 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1993
51 people want to read
About the author
Shirley Hughes
230 books205 followersShirley Hughes is the illustrator of more than two hundred children’s books and has won many prestigious awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. She is the author-illustrator of DON'T WANT TO GO! and OLLY AND ME 1 2 3. She died at her home in London on the 25th of February, 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 1, 2023
A collection of short stories and poems with charming illustrations. I didn’t personally care for the stories or poems (just style preference), but could see others appreciating this book.
Ages: 4 - 8
Content Considerations: there is a story about selkies, a mythical seal-person. Mentions beer and someone smokes a pipe.
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Ages: 4 - 8
Content Considerations: there is a story about selkies, a mythical seal-person. Mentions beer and someone smokes a pipe.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
December 13, 2018
Acclaimed British children's author and artist Shirley Hughes presents a selection of poetry and prose in this winter-time collection, with text accompanied by her atmospheric illustrations. The nine selections here include six poems and three stories, one of them wordless.
The book kicks off with "Wild Weather," a brief poem about the coming of winter, and more stormy weather.
Next is "Sea Singing", the tale of a young girl who has been sent to stay on the Scottish coast with a friend of her mother's, following an illness. After hearing singing from the sea, she is told a traditional tale of a selkie, or seal woman.
"Late Song" is a rather spooky poem about an old man (perhaps a tramp?) passing in the late afternoon one wintry day.
In "Mrs. Toomly Stones" we see the chills and thrills experienced by a local child, when considering an old house in the neighborhood that stands empty, and which he imagines is owned by the eponymous Mrs. Toomly Stones.
The rather surreal, and entirely wordless short story, "A Midwinter Night's Dream," follows a young boy as he rises from his bed one night, heads down to the basement, and falls into an enchanted subterranean world. After his adventures, in which he sees very little of the magic he is passing, he winds up back in his bedroom...
Inside the Inn is the first Christmas selection, and is a brief poem that juxtaposes a contemporary British pub with the inn at Bethlehem where (in both cases) there is no room for a wandering couple in need of shelter.
A second Christmas poem is included, in the form of "First Light," which imagines that of the shepherds given the news of Jesus' birth so long ago - the news that "God had come to live with them below" - a young boy would have been the first amongst them to hear.
The third and final Christmas selection, and the longest piece in the book, is Burning the Tree, which explores young William's relationship with his Grandpa, who has just recently come to live with his family, after the death of William's Gran. Issues of loss and grief, and of healing and love, are sensitively explored as boy and man work together to burn their family's Christmas tree, after it has been taken down.
The final selection is "Coming Soon," a brief poem heralding the coming of the much-awaited Spring...
I enjoyed this Stories by Firelight, although perhaps not quite as much as I had expected to, given my love for the season. That said, I do appreciate the way that Hughes intermingled the ordinary and the enchanted here, in these pieces, and I found many of her illustrations quite striking. She mentioned, in a tiny postscript, that the artwork for "A Midwinter Night's Dream" was inspired by the carvings on medieval buildings found in Bologna, Moissac, Sherborne, Verona and San Quirico D'Orcia, which I found interesting. Of the nine selections, my favorite was undoubtedly "Sea Singing", but then, I do love selkie stories. Recommended to Hughes fans, and to anyone looking for an engaging collection of stories and poems about the coming and the passing of Winter.
The book kicks off with "Wild Weather," a brief poem about the coming of winter, and more stormy weather.
Next is "Sea Singing", the tale of a young girl who has been sent to stay on the Scottish coast with a friend of her mother's, following an illness. After hearing singing from the sea, she is told a traditional tale of a selkie, or seal woman.
"Late Song" is a rather spooky poem about an old man (perhaps a tramp?) passing in the late afternoon one wintry day.
In "Mrs. Toomly Stones" we see the chills and thrills experienced by a local child, when considering an old house in the neighborhood that stands empty, and which he imagines is owned by the eponymous Mrs. Toomly Stones.
The rather surreal, and entirely wordless short story, "A Midwinter Night's Dream," follows a young boy as he rises from his bed one night, heads down to the basement, and falls into an enchanted subterranean world. After his adventures, in which he sees very little of the magic he is passing, he winds up back in his bedroom...
Inside the Inn is the first Christmas selection, and is a brief poem that juxtaposes a contemporary British pub with the inn at Bethlehem where (in both cases) there is no room for a wandering couple in need of shelter.
A second Christmas poem is included, in the form of "First Light," which imagines that of the shepherds given the news of Jesus' birth so long ago - the news that "God had come to live with them below" - a young boy would have been the first amongst them to hear.
The third and final Christmas selection, and the longest piece in the book, is Burning the Tree, which explores young William's relationship with his Grandpa, who has just recently come to live with his family, after the death of William's Gran. Issues of loss and grief, and of healing and love, are sensitively explored as boy and man work together to burn their family's Christmas tree, after it has been taken down.
The final selection is "Coming Soon," a brief poem heralding the coming of the much-awaited Spring...
I enjoyed this Stories by Firelight, although perhaps not quite as much as I had expected to, given my love for the season. That said, I do appreciate the way that Hughes intermingled the ordinary and the enchanted here, in these pieces, and I found many of her illustrations quite striking. She mentioned, in a tiny postscript, that the artwork for "A Midwinter Night's Dream" was inspired by the carvings on medieval buildings found in Bologna, Moissac, Sherborne, Verona and San Quirico D'Orcia, which I found interesting. Of the nine selections, my favorite was undoubtedly "Sea Singing", but then, I do love selkie stories. Recommended to Hughes fans, and to anyone looking for an engaging collection of stories and poems about the coming and the passing of Winter.
March 12, 2023
I've always loved Shirley Hughes' stories and illustrations, especially her Alfie and Annie Rose series. So I was surprised and a little disappointed in this book, which I expected to be a warm cozy read-aloud for kids. Although there were a couple of good Christmas vignettes, the main stories were more creepy than fun and cozy. One is about a selkie - a seal/human mixture. A man falls in love with a selkie and strips off her sealskin so she can't go back to sea. So she marries him and has a family with him. But one day she finds her sealskin and disappears back into the sea, leaving her husband and children behind. When he manages to find her one day, she says she can't come back because she has a husband and children in the sea. Sort of unsatisfactory to me.
In another story, a young boy has a mid-winter dream in which he meets a lot of monster-ish creatures. There is no dialog, just pictures. Sort of a "where the wild things are" vibe. If I were a kid it would be scary to me.
The last story is about the burning of the Christmas tree and the grandfather throws a bunch of old letters and memos on the fire because he has the memories and no longer needs the actual items. It was OK, but not really the cozy type of story I was hoping for.
I look forward to enjoying more of her writing in the future, but this book will definitely not be one of my favorites.
In another story, a young boy has a mid-winter dream in which he meets a lot of monster-ish creatures. There is no dialog, just pictures. Sort of a "where the wild things are" vibe. If I were a kid it would be scary to me.
The last story is about the burning of the Christmas tree and the grandfather throws a bunch of old letters and memos on the fire because he has the memories and no longer needs the actual items. It was OK, but not really the cozy type of story I was hoping for.
I look forward to enjoying more of her writing in the future, but this book will definitely not be one of my favorites.
November 1, 2018
I am a huge Shirley Hughes fan but these are like horror stories for sensitive children. I’m donating it without even reading to my son. Too dark and depressing.
Spoiler: a mermaid (silkie) is entrapped into marriage and then abandons her husband and babies to go back to be sea.
An old man loses his wife and moves in with his daughters family. He burns a whole box of letters because memories are what’s important. I’m as minimalist as anyone but this was just so sad.
This book gave me the Sunday blues.
Spoiler: a mermaid (silkie) is entrapped into marriage and then abandons her husband and babies to go back to be sea.
An old man loses his wife and moves in with his daughters family. He burns a whole box of letters because memories are what’s important. I’m as minimalist as anyone but this was just so sad.
This book gave me the Sunday blues.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2018
I picked this up for $1 at a library book sale just because it was Shirley Hughes. It is a mish-mash of poems, stories and a wordless story. Because it is Shirley Hughes, the illustrations are amazing! I love, love, love the illustrations! Some of the stories/poems are pretty good, and some are just meh. I could stare at some of the pictures for hours though.
February 5, 2020
Lovely for 6 year olds and for the grownups reading! We read this right at the end of winter and the timing was perfect. Gorgeous illustrations and little poems about the coming of winter and spring
January 24, 2021
From wordless dreams, a gentler version of In the night kitchen by Sendak, to a grandad saying goodbye to mementos, to Christmas-themed stories - this is a treasure.
March 18, 2017
Quite wonderful, beautifully illustrated stories to celebrate winter turning slowly into spring.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews