Fire and Stone

by Ursula K. Le Guin, Laura Marshall (Illustrator)

When the dragon comes swooping down with its tongue of flickering fire, only Min and Podo have the foresight to feed it what it seems to want from them.

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 1989

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

Reviews

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this picture book, a town of villagers finds itself regularly terrorized by a fire-breathing dragon. When a small child named Min is unable to get to safety, she and her friend Podo must devise an ingenious solution for survival.

I am still trying to decipher the message of this book, which seems like it might be trying to say something about how we approach our fears. Can we lead with curiosity instead of anxiety? Is necessity the mother of invention here? The villagers run mindlessly, until the kids have to choose a different path. However, the final twist may be saying something else altogether, a message about transformation and the cyclical nature of the world. Or maybe this is about reconciliation with the enemy, an agreement to live in harmony with that which harms us.

It's also entirely possible that I am giving way too much thought to a book written for people who are single digit ages. I did enjoy the colorful illustrations by Laura Marshall, which appear to be some form of watercolor. Remarkable.

[Krysta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story felt pretty standard, aside from the fact that I ended up pitying the dragon, which I think was not meant to happen.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, how did I miss this? Clearly, all the other UKleG freaks I know missed it too, as it has only 8 ratings.