Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #246568 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Text and artwork of extraordinary beauty highlight this stirring tale of a girl who rescues her brother after he is captured by trolls. In the haunting, singsong language of an epic poem, Le Guin depicts the primeval northern country where the nameless girl dwells with her family. While her parents grieve over the loss of their son, the girl sets out to find him, taking for comfort her only toy, a painted wooden horse. For that one night, the figure is transformed into a flesh-and-blood mare of fiery red, which helps the girl find her imprisoned brother and bring him home. Le Guin's evocative prose takes the reader on that wild ride through the chill darkness--we hear the mare's hooves on a wooden bridge; we see the piles of refuse and the scampering rats in the interior of the troll's fortress. In Downing's paintings, too, the red mare (based on a Swedish woodcarving) leaps vividly to life, shaking her bridle of flowers as she crosses a silvery landscape bathed in bluish light. The trolls, with their white, moonlike faces, long talons and spikey hair are appropriately hideous. Even the book's design, lovely without being obtrusive, contributes to the old-world feeling of a classic story. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-5-- Le Guin's unnamed heroine is neither flamboyant nor elegant, but she is focused and wonderfully resolute. The tale tells of a little boy stolen by wicked trolls and taken to their High House. Since the heartbroken father is unable to cope and the mother must stay home with the baby, the sister sets out with a bit of bread, knitting needles, red yarn, and a scarf to find her brother. Of course, she is accompanied by her magical red wooden horse that her father had carved. Using traditional folkloric patterns, Le Guin fashions a child protagonist who is not overly frightened by trolls; she just deals with them. She is not even overly impressed with the mare who is her guide and champion. The horse does her thing and the girl goes on with her rescue mission. The language is rhythmic, with well-paced cadences and a tone that calls out to be read aloud. The illustrations do not invade the space of this well-crafted tale, but provide glimpses of what is being shared. Text pages have a decorative gray border that seems to embrace the words and adds a measure of caring to the telling. On the other pages, Downing uses the lovely reds of the horse and the scarf against more sober colors to complete the images. This story is a real gem that demonstrates the value of determination and that one's sense of satisfaction in a task completed is reward enough. Bravo to such a creative work. --Kay E. Vandergrift, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
A beautifully crafted tale, drawing on Scandinavian folklore (including Peer Gynt) and recalling the theme of Andersen's The Snow Queen, yet told with such freshness and grace that it seems entirely new. A girl goes out in the snow to look for her little brother--snatched by trolls while hunting with their father- -taking the scarf she has knit for him, a loaf of her mother's bread, and her little toy horse (in the traditional Swedish design). When a troll challenges her, she gives him the bread, and he tells her that her brother is in the ``High House.'' Coming to life, the horse takes the girl to the trolls' mountain home and diverts them while she finds her bewitched brother. The warm scarf recalls him to himself; the morning sun captures the trolls in stone but also returns the horse to her wooden form. The children, following the ``fine, thin thread of silk or silver'' that is their mother's voice, find their way safely home. In a dozen spare, lovely full-page watercolors, Downing confirms the universality of the story's powerful symbols while capturing the suspense of the journey into the unknown and the joy of the brilliant, flower-bedecked steed. With delicate borders ornamenting the text pages, the format is unusually appealing. An entrancing young reader, perfect for sharing aloud. (Fiction. 4+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Magic! Trolls! A Wonderous Horse! and family love...
I purchased this book for my son, just because it was written by my favorite author. Although I immediately fell in love with it, I wasn't so sure what my 6 year old son would think of it, but, perhaps for different reasons than me, he insists on having it read to him frequently. Like any classic folktale, it uses a simple style and classic images to present timeless and complicated truths. The illustrations are gorgeous and evoke just the right feelings for the story.

Superb!
This is a fantastic story with beautiful illustrations.

I bought it for my daughter when she was five. At the age of twelve it is still a favorite of hers, and for me as well. Since Le Guin has used techniques from oral traditions, it is simply wonderful to read aloud.

I think this is an example of a perfectly written short story. Everything in the story has a purpose. Not a word can be taken away without detracting from the story, and any additions would be superfluous.

This is one of the few books that will not be traded in or given to a library.

Very memorable and inspiring!
I read this book to my daughters, ages 6 and 4. Several weeks later when we were visiting my in-laws, my oldest daughter ran up to me holding a "red mare", a small wooden horse that her grandparents had purchased in Sweden. She retold the entire story and then offered to rescue her brother if ever he should be abducted by trolls.