Stories by Firelight

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-A small collection of three stories and six poems, all set in winter. Each selection is fresh and stands well on its own. The first is about an eight or nine-year-old girl sent to the coast to stay with a family friend while she recovers from an illness. Hughes incorporates a folktale about a selkie into it. In a wordless tale, a preschool boy takes a mysterious dream journey filled with strange, fairylike creatures, but remains oblivious to most of the action. After a couple of Christmas poems, there is a post-holiday selection about a boy and his grandfather who take down their tree and burn it. The old gent stokes the flames by adding his cache of personal letters and mementos. He explains to his grandson, "`The special things are in my head. And my heart. So why not get rid of the rest?'" The double-spread watercolor illustrations are large and vigorous, their mood appropriate for each piece. It is always a pleasure to look at Hughes's pictures of family life, with her realistic and average-looking people. Not essential, but enjoyable.-Jane Gardner Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia