A Ride on the Red Mare's Back

Something about LeGuin doesn't click with me, though I keep trying as she is so beloved and respected. But in so far as a story about a girl rescuing her little brother from trolls, well, I prefer the David Bowie movie or the Sendak book. The illustrations were lovely.

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.

A little girl saves her younger brother with courage, determination, knitting, and the help of her toy horse. What's not to like?

Hazel Rochman (Booklist, June 15, 1992 (Vol. 88, No. 20))
A long time ago, when the world was wild," a brave girl sets out through the snowy northern wilderness to rescue her little brother from the trolls. She's helped by her wooden horse, a small red toy that's transformed into a powerful mare to carry her through darkness and storm. Le Guin's original fairy tale is truly feminist, not only because of the gender of hero and guide, but also because the struggle is won without force, through love and wit and the skills of home. But there's no heavy message. The menace flashes with fun. The girl overcomes one troll by giving him bread. She gets past the stupid nurse troll by showing her how to knit. When she does find her brother, he acts show more like a violent, stupid troll and sticks out his tongue at her. Finally, in an intensely serious moment, she frees her brother from his enchantment with a scarf she's made for him. "I'm cold," he says. "I want to go home." The book design is handsome and spacious, with the text BORdered in gray and white and the page breaks reinforcing the story's rhythm. The watercolor paintings capture the cold blue light and the mystery of the far northern landscape, though the illustrations can't always compete with Le Guin's scary images of the hideous trolls and their snail-track eyes. Great for reading aloud, Le Guin's spare, poetic narrative evokes the cadence of a long storytelling tradition. Category: For the Young. 1992, Orchard/Richard Jackson, show less