The Firekeeper's Son
Paperback – Picture Book, April 20, 2009
HarperCollins · Paperback · April 20, 2009
A tale rooted in Korean history about family, beauty, and peace.
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- Who it’s for
- A Korean historical picture book pairs a child’s difficult choice with luminous, story-carrying paintings.
- Themes
- Family responsibility, Peace, Difficult choices
- Genres
- Historical Asia, US: Asian American Stories, Stories Set in Asia
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A tale rooted in Korean history about family, beauty, and peace. Linda Sue Park's beautiful picture book is about Sang-hee, son of the village firekeeper. In Korea in the early 1800s, news from the countryside reached the king by means of signal fires. On one mountaintop after another, a fire was lit when all was well. If the king did not see a fire, that meant trouble, and he would send out his army.
Continue reading
When his father is unable to light the fire one night, young Sang-hee must take his place. Sang-hee knows how important it is for the fire to be lit—but he wishes that he could see soldiers . . . just once. Mountains, firelight and shadow, and Sunhee's struggle with a hard choice are rendered in Julie Downing's radiant paintings, which tell their own story of a turning point in a child's life. This moving picture book is from Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park, whose beloved middle grade books include A Single Shard and A Long Walk to Water.
Firelight and Choice
A Korean historical picture book pairs a child’s difficult choice with luminous, story-carrying paintings.
Come here for
- Signal fires linking village and king
- A child’s wish set against responsibility
Expect
- Mountains, firelight, and shadow in radiant paintings
- An accessible tale about family, beauty, and peace
Where it sits
| Historical Asia | 92% |
|---|---|
| US: Asian American Stories | 32% |
| Stories Set in Asia | 28% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Art & Architecture
- Boys & Men
- US: Asian American Stories
- Stepfamily Stories
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Girls & Young Women
- Historical Asia
- Funny Stories
- Stories Set in Asia
- Authors
- Linda Sue Park
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- April 20, 2009
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- Family responsibility · Peace · Difficult choices
- Reading lane
- Art & Architecture