Little Firefly: An Algonquian Legend

Native American Legends

by Terri Cohlene, Charles Reasoner (Illustrator)

A retelling of the Algonquian Indian legend of how a young girl, badly mistreated by her sisters, becomes the bride of the great hunter known as the Invisible One. Includes information on the history and customs of the Algonquian Indians.

Genres: Picture Books, Cinderella, Native American, Childrens, Folk Tales, School, Native Americans

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Little Firefly is forced to do all the work in her wigwam, in this retelling of an Algonquian tale, as her father is often away hunting, and her two older sisters - who cruelly nickname her "Little Burnt One" - refuse to do any cooking or cleaning. Scarred as a result of her time in front of the fire, Little Firefly has no hopes (unlike her sisters) of winning the great warrior, The Invisible One - who lives, together with his sister, across the lake from their village - as a husband. But when she rows across to offer herself as a servant, having grown tired of her mistreatment at home, and is able to see The Invisible One, with his rainbow bowstring, and his hunting strap made from the Milky Way, it turns out she is the one destined to be his wife...

This Algonquian variant of the widespread "Cinderella" story (the 'persecuted heroine' tale type, in the Aarne-Thompson folklore classification system), had also been retold by Rafe Martin as The Rough-Face Girl , and by Robert D. San Souci as Sootface . I cannot compare it to these other retellings, as I have not (yet!) read them, but I can say that this version, Little Firefly irritated me greatly! The fourth entry in the Native American Legends series that I have read by Terri Cohlene, it is the first to which I have given a one-star rating, although my estimation of the series, as a whole, has declined with each book read (I gave three stars to the first one I read, Clamshell Boy: A Makah Legend , and two stars each to Turquoise Boy: A Navajo Legend and Dancing Drum: A Cherokee Legend ).

It's not simply that, as with her previous titles, Cohlene neglected to provide any source material for this story, although that certainly irritates me, and - in conjunction with other critiques of some of the books in this series - makes me wonder about issues of authenticity. This title also contained some grossly misleading information, in the factual afterword about the Algonquian people. Bad enough that all of the Iroquois nations were included in a confusing way in Cohlene's map of the Algonquian tribes (Um... hello? Linguistically the Iroquois nations are related to the Cherokee, who constitute the southern branch of the Iroquoian language family; historically, they were enemies of the Algonquian peoples), but Cohlene also includes a reference to the Battle of Wounded Knee in her timeline!

No, Terri Cohlene, the horrific massacre that occurred at Wounded Knee was not a 'battle,' and any slack I was going to cut you, because the aforementioned map may not have been deliberately confusing (there is a subtle distinction made between the Algonquian and Iroquoian names, one being in bold, and slightly larger - a distinction that will probably fly over most young readers' heads), went right out the door when I saw that. Just... no. No, no, no! No, this book is NOT recommended.

[Roseanna Ayala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful tool for teaching about natural resources and understanding oral histories as primary sources.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful series of books that tells a Native American traditional story and follows it with information about those people including history and how they lived traditionally.

This Algonquian story is very similar to cinderella but the end has her going to him and the test taking place immediately. She never returns to her evil sisters who burned her. (Yes, there's even a fire.) I like it much better.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a sort of Cinderella story, we see Little Burnt One, who resolves it would be better to be servant to The Invisible One than to take her sisters' abuse another day. I felt there was a little less about the Algonquins in the facts at the end, but was fascinated by the details. I loved picturing this story as I read it.

[Liv Feisel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because it was a legend from a culture I'm not super familiar with, so it was interesting to learn about the culture of a different group of people. I appreciated the natural integration of cultural words that students may be unfamiliar with, which would then allow those students to use context clues to understand and expand their vocabulary and cultural knowledge. I think the format of this book is good for older readers. Larger chunks of text are more appropriate for late elementary or middle schoolers while also still having the appeal of the illustrations. For younger readers, I can see this being a good read aloud book. I think the story would have an appeal to students due to its similarity to Cinderella stories, and I would use it in a unit with other similar fairy tale / legend stories like it. The end of the book (or at least my copy) has sources for further research of the Algonquian people, which I would also utilize in any lesson done with this book for further context and cultural understanding.

[Marie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is based on an Algonquin folktale which closely resembles the story of Cinderella. Little Firefly has two sisters who treat her poorly and call her “Little Burnt One” after they repeatedly push her into the fire. Nearby lives a handsome, but invisible, Indian brave who is only visible to his sister and his future bride. Little Firefly gets tired of being treated so badly by her sisters that she runs away from home. She goes to see the Invisble Indian’s sister to see if they need a servant. The rest of the story tells what happens next. After the end of the story is a section about the Algonquin Indians: where they lived, what their homes looked like, what they ate and how they dressed. There were drawings, artwork, photographs and a glossary.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

highly europeanized, but charming enough.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful book on Native American legends, this time the Algonquin version of the Cinderella story.

[Christy Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Algonquian Indian story of a girl who went from being called, "Little Burnt One" to "Little Firefly", because she was. named for one who caries sparks from the sun.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

The legend has a child in trauma which the scars disappear. This isn't the best message. The end of the book does discuss the tribes history minimally.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated.

Little Firefly meets her husband The Invisible One.

A Native American “Cinderella”.

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

With similarities to Cinderella, Little Firefly becomes the wife of the great hunter who is invisible to all but his wife. Little Firefly is treated badly by her sisters who make her do all of the work for the family. They call her names and tell her that she will never amount to anything. Little Firefly eventually goes off to find "The Invisible One" after her mother's spirit tells her that she will find happiness there. This Algonquain legend could be used with students for studying character education, Native American customs, and legends in Native American culture.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed the legend, a great combination of a familiar story with a definite difference. I also enjoyed reading the information about the Algonquian in the back.

I preferred the more sophisticated rendition The Rough-Face Girl.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cinderella type story. The tale is told similarly in "The Rough-Face Girl" who's illustrations I prefer, but this has a few details in the story which are not told in that one and a nice added history of the Algonquian people at the end.

[Cassidy Mayhew]

I loved this book as a kid:)

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Algonquin Cinderella legend with history and pictures about the culture