A Ride on the Red Mare's Back

by Ursula K. Le Guin, Julie Downing (Illustrator)

With the aid of her magic wooden horse, a brave girl travels to the High House in the mountains to rescue her kidnapped brother from the trolls

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Holiday, Chapter Books, Adventure

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

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

[Bahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ursula K. Le Guin yine bildiğimiz gibi: sade görünen ama derinliği olan dünyalar kuruyor. Kızıl Kısrak bir çocuk kitabı gibi dursa da, asıl gücü içimizdeki çocuğa seslenmesinde.

Özellikle son öykü, Leese Webster, beni çok etkiledi. Leese’in bakışını izlemek, onun kendi doğasıyla kurduğu ilişkiyi ve sonunda doğanın sonsuzluğuna kavuşmasını görmek; bana farklı bir tonda yazılmış bir Küçük Kara Balık hissi verdi. Sessiz ama güçlü.

Balina Süleyman’ı daha önce ayrı bir kitap olarak okumuştum. Bu derlemenin içinde yeniden karşılaşınca verdiği mesajı bu kez başka bir yerden, daha olgun bir gözle okudum. Aynı metin, farklı yaşta başka bir kapı açabiliyor.

Kitaba adını veren Kızıl Kısrak ise sevginin sıcaklığını, el örgüsü bir atkı metaforuyla doğrudan içime taşıdı. Gösterişsiz ama çok tanıdık bir şefkat hali.

Sonuç olarak Kraliçem yine sadece çocuklara değil, büyümüş ama içindeki çocuğu kaybetmemiş okura da sesleniyor. Sessizce, acele etmeden, ama tam kalbinden.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightfully charming modern children's fable was inspired by a gift of a small wooden Dalarna Horse that the author was given while on a trip to Sweden. Le Guin had expected to find some rich legend associated with the gift and was surprised when she didn't find anything of the kind. So, as any good storyteller would do, she made one up. The result is something that is perfect as a bedtime story for little ones or a quick escape from daily life to return to one's childhood where problems are easily solved with courage, inventiveness and quick-thinking.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little girls from the far north often go out to rescue their brothers, or the sun... I can't really let ppl call this an 'original' tale as I'm sure Le Guin had the themes & tropes in her head from her own reading. And I found it too wordy, not gracefully told... which contradicts all I've heard about the talented author. The pictures are lovely, and some might even call them lively.

But on the whole I wasn't sufficiently impressed to recommend this to any of you. Sorry.

Question, though - in David Bowie's "Labyrinth" did the stolen child wish to avoid rescue?

And is it possible that stories of trolls and goblins are left over from when HS interacted with Neanderthals, and we demonized them (at the same time we were interbreeding with them, and keeping some of their genes alive despite driving them to actual extinction)?

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my youngest son when he was about 5. I am glad I thought to put a plastic protective cover on it though it still shows a few signs of his time with it! Now he's moved out and didn't take it with him, so I am the one who re-reads it every Solstice season. I love that strong female characters save the day in this, the girl's courage, the mare's wisdom and strength, and the mother's almost invisible part. Not that men don't have a role, the girl's father was the one who carved the horse, but it is clearly feminine intuition & magic that are needed to have a happy ending.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little folktale about a brave little girl who saves her brother from trolls with the help of her favorite toy, a red mare her father had carved her. It's influenced by Scandinavian folklore. While for children, it's a longer picture book, so I'd recommend it to older children.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful story with action, magic, and cleverness enough to satisfy any child. The pictures are beautiful and the story is told simply in UKL's spare poetic language. The protagonist is a girl, something that's still all too rare among kids' stories. She's clever and intrepid and, with the help of her toy who magically comes to life for a single night, wins the day and brings her lost little brother home from his abduction by trolls. Not only are women given full stature as characters, but the work done by women in this story -- knitting, baking bread -- is given the same weight and meaning as the work done by men -- carving, hunting. Stories such as this one are how we remold the world, remake our brains, into nonsexist ones. But most important of all, far more important than any idealogical lessons, is the fact that this is simply a very good story well told.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite Ursula Le Guin stories are those that read like fables. Reading through her oeuvre, Her children's books have been hit or miss for me, but I enjoyed this one because it leans into that fairy tale or fable quality.

Set somewhere in the far north, the story follows an unnamed girl, whose brother gets lost in the woods and abducted by trolls. The girl goes out at night with her wooden toy horse to find him. The horse comes to life after dark and the two go on a quest to find the trolls and save the brother - but they must finish their task before sunrise.

The girl's journey follows the pattern of a number of hero's journey narratives, although simplified here for an early reader audience. What sets this one apart may be the tenderness of the relationship between the girl and the red mare, whom she comes to love. The horse cares for her, protects her, and proves key to completing their quest.

The book can be read on many metaphorical levels - as an allegory about coming of age, as an exploration of the mystery of what occurs in the dark, or as a meditation on the importance of friends and family. There are even some thoughts on the power of everyday things and domesticity at work in the narrative. It's multi-layered and thoughtful.

The book is illustrated with paintings by Julie Downing and these are lovely, alternating warm and cool colors to contrast the hot blooded humans and horses against the coolness of the trolls and the snow. The book is good, but it wouldn't be nearly as nice without these lovely renderings.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really sweet kind-of-fable written by Ursula Le Guin inspired by the Swedish Dala horse. I'm not sure I would have picked this book up, if not for the display I made for the author's passing. I've read several of her adult titles, but this is my first venture into her works for children. I enjoyed the language and tone, which did just enough to set the scene without being too challenging. The illustrations were really tremendous, too.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ordinary girl becomes a hero by rescuing her younger brother from trolls. She is clever enough to go on her journey prepared with those possessions she thinks might be useful: a loaf of bread, her knitting needles and a little yarn, and her carved wooden toy horse-- which turns out to be magic and serves as her guide in the land of the trolls.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl leaves her home with only her toy red mare, a half of a loaf of bread, a pair of wooded knitting needles, and yarn, and a red scarf, and sets off to rescue her younger brother who was captured by trolls while hunting with his father. Wit, compassion, and bravery is used to make a daring rescue, and return home safely.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

It turns out that Ursula LeGuin wrote this and I never knew even though it was my favorite childhood story.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical creatures, horses and a great adventure for a young girl-what’s not to love? Great pictures too!

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the retroactive mythology in this book, and it's pretty convincing in it's attempt to pass as an old fairytale.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le Guin's imagined Scandinavian folktale was a favorite when I was a child and still holds true today.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young girl goes on a heroic adventure.

Great story, very good art.

Inspirational.

[Wetdryvac · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old favorite.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"“The dark winter’s coming,” the mother said. “Listen to the wind!”" (p.11)

"When the sun rose, the air was still at last, and the fields were white, and the forest was black." (p.12)

"Her mother’s voice was like a fine, thin thread of silk or silver that lay behind her as she walked across the snowy fields and into the forest, looking for her brother who had been taken by the trolls." (p.16)

"Days are short in the dark winter of the North. The yellow sunlight slanted through the trees and then was gone. The light was cold and blue." (p.18)

"The red mare broke into a gallop, and as the night grew deeper she ran through the darkness like a flying spark." (p.25)

"Then the girl crept like a mouse’s shadow through that high door and into the mountain." (p.30)

"But down the slopes of the mountain, across the snowy plain, reaching into the forest, lay a thin, fine, silvery thread, delicate as spiderweb." (p.41)

"When she slept that night, she dreamed how the red mare would run with her colt through the grass and flowers in the sunlight in the spring, their hooves striking sparks from stones, and the wild wind blowing." (p.48)

[Adam Clavey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this fantasy story, a boy goes hunting with his father. While hunting trolls take him away. After hearing the news, the boy's sister heads out to find her brother. She brings along with her a red wooden horse her father made. On the adventure the wooden horse turns into a real horse and the sister rides it to the trolls castle. The wooden horse distracts the troll while she gets her brother. On there way home the horse turns back to wood because it can only be real for a day. When they get to their house they find that their father had made a new wooden horse while they were gone. The story has themes of bravery, loyalty, and family. I would recommend this book to students between third to fifth grade.

[Harvest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A traditionally styled fairytale for children complete with a horse clopping over a bridge under which hides the troll! This version, by Ursula K. Le Guin, has a very happy girl power ending . . . The heroine's determination, skills, abilities, and problem solving save the day, without ever once mentioning her appearance. These are the kinds of stories we need!

This book might be too frightening or confusing for young children who have not yet made the intellectual distinction between fiction and reality, but for older children it makes a great venue for continued discussions on these themes.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely book that caught my eye when I was looking for other LeGuin books. She wrote a quiet yet intense story about a girl and her toy horse who comes to life, and the challenge they face with some pretty awful trolls. The illustrations are fantastic, the story very good. My kids are older and so they were interested and I didn't have to think twice about it. However, when they were much littler, this book would have been a bit much for them. The pictures are consistently dark and the story raises concerns that might trouble a sensitive child. Also, them is ugly trolls. That aside, it is a story of courage, companionship, and magic horses. Pretty cool.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy is abducted by trolls. His older sister decides to brave the dark night and cold winter to find him. She brings her toy, a beautifully painted red horse. When she comes upon the troll's bridge, the mare comes life. The trolls fear the horse and tell her the boy can be found at the High House. As the horse distracts the trolls, the girl bravely enters the house and rescues her brother. Jacket flap has note from author sharing the inspiration for this tale.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The voice of this book is still and quiet as if falling on the snow in the dark night of the story. It is richly and eloquently told without being excessive. A must read for children. The lines and images have stayed with me. It was even made into a wonderful puppet play with some involvement of the author in Portland/Vancouver by the Tears of Joy Theater.

[Jacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 6th, 2022 : Beautiful, story & art both. Reading it at 32, I'm not sure whether it's a good children's story. It's definitely a good adult's story. And I liked it a lot more than Catwings.

I wish Ursula's other children's books were easier to get ahold of. They look so good...

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended to by a friend that teaches 2nd grade. He reads this to his class every year and thought the prayer shawl group I belong would enjoy it!!! We did! Great book, great read and fun for our whole group! Thanks, Wayne!

[Tara L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually my preschooler boys don't sit well through long books, however, this one was fun to read aloud and kept us all interested the whole way through. Such a good story with plenty of action and a great climax.

[Bonita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book. Great Read aloud.
I read it every year to classes in my elementary school.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remarkably dull. Why on earth did this story need to be written?

[Toko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful!

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Every time I think about overthinking things and making a tangled mess of something, I am reminded of it.

[Saumya]

Excited to share one of my favorite authors with my kid!