Lari Don - Fire and Ice: Stories of Winter from Around the World

For Colin, who loves cold northern landscapes too.

Copyright 2016 by Darby Creek

Text copyright 2013 Lari Don

Illustrations copyright 2013 Francesca Greenwood

This translation of Fire and Ice is published by Darby Creek by arrangement with Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Darby Creek

A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

241 First Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com.

Main body text set in Sabon LT Std 13/19. Typeface provided by Adobe Systems.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Don, Lari, author. | Greenwood, Francesca, illlustrator.

Title: Fire and ice : stories of winter from around the world / by Lari Don ; illustrations by Francesca Greenwood.

Description: Minneapolis : Darby Creek, 2016. | Series: World of stories | Audience: Age: 7-12. | Audience: Grade 4 to 6.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015046854 (print) | LCCN 2016009517 (ebook) | ISBN 9781512413205 (lb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781512413458 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781512413465 (eb pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Winter--Folklore--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC GT4995.W55 D66 2016 (print) | LCC GT4995.W55 (ebook) | DDC 398.2--dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015046854

Manufactured in the United States of America

1-39779-21317-2/24/2016

9781512419085 ePub

9781512419092 ePub

9781512419108 mobi

Contents

The Seeds of Winter
Greek myth

The Snow Bear and the Trolls
Norwegian folktale

The Prince of Wolves
Tsimshian folktale, Canada

The Ibis Brings Spring
Yamana myth, Tierra del Fuego

The Hag of Winter
Scottish myth

The Spiders Christmas
Ukrainian folktale

Ice and Fire
Maori myth, New Zealand

The Hungry Polar Bear
Canadian folktale

Missing Winter
Canaanite myth, Eastern Mediterranean

The Foxs Footprints
Cree folktale, Canada

Ukko and the Bear
Lapp legend, Finland

The Last Sun
Chinese myth

Blind Winter
Viking myth

Five White Eagles
Venezuelan legend

The Hero with Hairy Trousers
Norse legend

The Seeds of Winter
Greek myth

W hen the gods were young, there was no winter.

There was no winter, no spring, no summer, and no autumn. Just warmth and growth, with fruit heavy in the trees and grain tall in the fields. Every month brought a new crop to harvest and everyone ate well.

The goddess Demeter was always busy because it was her job to encourage all the plants to grow, but she was happy too.

Demeter had a daughter she loved very much: Persephone, whose father was the chief god, Zeus. So, with her beloved plants and her beloved child both growing healthy and strong, Demeter was a glowing, generous presence on Earth.

Persephone grew into a beautiful young woman: tall, slim, and golden, like the wheat in her mothers fields.

One sunny day, Persephone was picnicking with her friends at the edge of a field. They had eaten so much of the earths goodnessapple pies, cucumber sandwiches, honey cakesthat all her friends were full and sleepy.

But Persephone noticed something in the center of the field. A plant she had never seen before, dark and glittering in the distance.

She asked her friends if they would come with her to examine the plant, but they yawned and said they would join her later.

So Persephone walked on her own toward the plant. As she got closer, she could see it was covered with black flowers. As she got closer still, she could see silver tips on each black petal. She knew all of her mothers plants, but she had never seen flowers so gloriously dark and sharp.

There were nine blossoms and Persephone decided it wouldnt harm the plant if she picked just one of them to show her mother.

So Persephone reached out to pluck the nearest flower.

But her fingers stuck to the stem. She couldnt break the stem, and she couldnt pull her hand away.

The flower trembled. The whole plant shivered. Then the plant jerked and started to sink into the ground, as if something was pulling on the roots.

Persephone yelled for help, but her friends were asleep.