The Firework-Maker's Daughter

by Philip Pullman, Stephen Russell (Adapted by)

Overview

The Firework-Maker's Daughter, is award winning children's writer Philip Pullman's brilliant and inspiring story about Lila, who dreams of becoming a firework-maker just like her father.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849430692
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/18/2011
Series:	Oberon Modern Plays
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Stephen Russell's TV credits include Coronation Street, Shameless, Drop Dead Gorgeous and Hattie. The Firework-Maker's Daughter is his first and only adapation for the stage.

Hometown:

Oxford, England

Date of Birth:

October 19, 1946

Place of Birth:

Norwich, England

Education:

Exeter College, Oxford University

Website:

http://www.philip-pullman.com/

Editorial Reviews

Adapted for the stage in a colourful and musical manner. Catchy tunes, impressive costumes and subtle yet effective special effects make for a fun family day out and highlights include the stunning costume of talking white elephant Hamlet and the beautifully crafted puppets used to help tell the tale.” - Amy Burns, The Stage


“Adapted for the stage in a colourful and musical manner. Catchy tunes, impressive costumes and subtle yet effective special effects make for a fun family day out and highlights include the stunning costume of talking white elephant Hamlet and the beautifully crafted puppets used to help tell the tale.” - Amy Burns, The Stage

From the Publisher

This comical adventure about a girl who longs to follow in her father's footsteps crackles with Pullman's (The Golden Compass; Clockwork) usual flair. Lila desperately wants to be a firework-maker like her widower father. Although he has raised her amid the dancing sparks, he wants her to have a husband rather than a vocation. With the help of her entrepreneurial friend Chulak, the personal servant to the king's talking white elephant, Lila tricks her father into revealing the secret to his profession, then bravely departs to retrieve the royal sulphur from Razvani the Fire-Fiend at the heart of a volcano. Pullman marries elements of fairy tale with slapstick humor as Lila outwits a vaudevillian band of pirates and scales jagged mountains on her quest. Gallagher's (Blue Willow, reviewed above) softly focused graphite drawings lend magical mystery as Lila fearfully contemplates the dancing fire imps at Mount Merapi and emphasize the absurdity as the elephant, his flanks emblazoned with advertisements, kneels before the Goddess of the Lake in order to save Lila from Razvani. If the tale, first published in Britain in 1995, isn't as polished as Pullman's other works, it's worth the trip just for the climactic fireworks scene in which Lila gets to show her stuff. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) FYI: As of September, Pullman's Sally Lockhart Trilogy is being reissued in paperback: The Ruby in the Smoke; The Shadow in the North; and The Tiger in the Well; as well as The Tin Princess, which features characters from the trilogy. (Knopf, $4.99 paper each ages 12-up ISBN 0-394-89589-4; -82599-3; ISBN 0-679-82671-8; -87615-4) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 3-6-A story set "A thousand miles ago" and very far away. Having grown up amid the clutter and creations in her firework-maker father's studio, Lila wants only to follow in his footsteps, but Lalchand thinks more of finding a husband for his daughter. Since he won't see things her way, Lila enlists the aid of her friend Chulak, keeper of the king's (talking) white elephant Hamlet, to help her find out what she needs to complete her apprenticeship and become a master firework-maker. Chulak learns that the final test is to obtain the royal sulfur from the Grotto of Razvani the Fire-Fiend, and Lila runs away to do this, before Chulak finds out that it takes more than determination to accomplish this quest. Now Lila's life is in danger, from more than the bumbling pirates who kidnap her along the way, and it is up to Chulak and Hamlet to find her before it is too late. Stately but expressive graphite drawings open each chapter and, along with decorated title and half-title pages, add to the expanded folktale feel of this story. This title is similar in length and probable audience to Pullman's Clockwork (Scholastic, 1998); however, where that book used horror and suspense to rivet readers to the page, this one will be remembered for its broad humor and gentle moral featuring a determined girl who reaches her goals through hard work, courage, and perseverance. Young readers will see, hear, smell, and be dazzled by the fireworks that burst forth, as Lila earns her heart's desire.-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

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