Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story
PreS-Gr. 2. "A long, long time ago, the only animals who had fire lived in the land above, up in the sky. The animals on earth had no fire." It is very cold, and to keep warm, the Earth animals form a fire-raiding party and appoint Coyote as leader. The animals follow Coyote's instructions, and steal fire from the sky world, bringing it to Earth and passing it from camp to camp. Handsomely illustrated by Salish tribal artist Sandoval, this accessible story credited to confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, incorporates Salish words and is part of a larger fire-education project that focuses on native use of fire as well as principles of fire ecology. A note asks readers to respect the tradition that this story be told or discussed only during winter, when snow is on the ground. A brief guide to written Salish and the International Phonetic Alphabet is appended.Karen HuttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved