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KINDLE ME A RIDDLE

A PIONEER STORY

by Roberta Karim
illustrated by Bethanne Andersen
Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins

ISBN 0-688-16203-7

What is cider before it is cider?

Answer: apples

And what is a wagon road before it's a wagon road?

Answer: a buffalo trail, long and deep

Constance and Jack and their mama and papa are playing a riddle game that stretches from morning to night. And once the riddles start, they crackle and pop like kindling aflame. As the pioneer family stirs up one riddle after another, young readers will delight in puzzling out answers that illuminate the details of daily life for settlers living on the frontier.

Roberta Karim's fascinating portrait of early American life is illustrated with paintings brimming with energy and authenticity by Bethanne Andersen, and includes historical background notes on the facts behind the riddles.

Roberta Karim was inspired to write this story when she discovered that a lakeside road near her home was originally a buffalo trail.

What was this book before it was a book?

You can kindle a riddle, too!

Awards & Recommendations

  • Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

  • [National Council for the Social Studies and Children's Book Council]

  • Notable Books for Children -- Smithsonian Magazine

  • Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens -- Capitol Choices

  • Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee

  • Publishers Weekly - Starred Review

  • Kirkus - Pointered Review

Reviews

  • PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)

    “A chipper and informative picture book. Andersen matches Karim’s homespun, image-rich language with vibrant airy scenes. The guessing game offers readers insight into the rhythms of another century. As a bonus, four pages of illustrated capsules at the end of the book detail 'THE LIFE OF A PIONEER FAMILY.'"

  • ALA BOOKLIST

    "A good choice for primary classes studying pioneer life; an appended section offers more information about each of the household items mentioned."

  • KIRKUS (POINTERED REVIEW)

    "When young Constance accidentally lets the cabin's fire die out, her father composes a riddle to cheer her up, spawning a riddle marathon as the entire family participates in creating conundrums. Karim devises clever puzzles that reveal the origins of items that would be commonplace for a pioneer, e.g. before it was a basket, it was 'saplings that leaned in the wind.' Andersen's oil paintings depict carefully researched, authentic scenes from pioneer life and capture the strong, loving family bonds that resonate in the text.

    The sparkling tale is fun to read and illuminating, and will round out any lesson on early settlers. A 4-page addendum, 'THE LIFE OF A PIONEER FAMILY,' provides further information about the objects in the riddles, such as how a log cabin is constructed."

Meet the Illustrator

Bethanne Andersen is the illustrator of a dozen picture books.  One of her first books for children, SEVEN BRAVE WOMEN by Betsy Hearne, was a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book and winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award.

The artist received her M.F.A. degree from Brigham Young University and studied illustration in the Masters program at the School of Visual Arts in New York.  She is now a visual arts professor at BYU.

Interview before illustrating KINDLE:
“Involved with her next project, KINDLE ME A RIDDLE, written by Roberta Karim, forthcoming in the fall from Greenwillow Books, Bethanne is knee-deep in dummy boards and ideas.  ‘In making a book,’ Bethanne says, ‘you get to be the director and you get to play all the parts.  I use techniques like background and character development.  Like each new project, this story of a pioneer girl and her father set in 1850's Utah presents new challenges.’  Bethanne used costumes and the authentic setting of the 'This is the Place Heritage Park' in Salt Lake City to create a real frontier feeling.”

Interview after illustrating KINDLE:
“Andersen adds to the author’s text by ensuring that her illustrations are historically accurate.  ‘Believe it or not,’ she says, ‘I spend about two months researching for historical illustrations.’  For KINDLE ME A RIDDLE: A PIONEER STORY, Andersen went to the pioneer village at 'This Is the Place Heritage Park' in Salt Lake City and took pictures of cabins, pots, brooms, and fireplaces.  ‘I researched every little thing.  You wouldn't guess it, but the children's leather shoes and the paisleys on the shawl are all authentic.’”

Bethanne Andersen lives in Idaho

At School And Beyond

  • Unit Plan: “Pioneers”

    Source: Manchester University
    42 pages (KINDLE page 37)

  • Lesson Plan: “Pioneer Poems”

    Source: The Royal Conservatory of Music
    3 pages (KINDLE pages 1 and 2)

  • Lesson Plan: “People of the Prairies”

    Source: FortWhyte Alive
    7 pages (KINDLE page 6)

  • Five in a Row (FIAR) Supplemental Books (literature-based homeschool program)

    “A huge hit! A pioneer family trades riddles about the origins of the things they use in daily life.”

  • Goodreads Book Club

    “KINDLE ME A RIDDLE is about a family who comes up with riddles all day long. It teaches the children what things are made of.

    Activity: Have the students come up with their own riddle, making it a question: ‘What was something before it was something else?’ The students could then put the riddles they created together and make a class book to share with their families.” – Stephanie Jeanneret

  • Museum Event

    Timber Tales Storytime
    Log Cabin Village (19th century living history museum)
    Fort Worth, TX

    “Featured story: KINDLE ME A RIDDLE: A PIONEER STORY by Roberta Karim. Frontier days are brought to life through a series of riddles in this charming story about a 19th century family. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds."

  • Dr. Frye's Children Literature Blog, Appalachian State University

    Review by Rachel Brown, Elementary Education major
    "Kindle Me A Riddle: A Pioneer Story"
    Picture Book, Historical Fiction, Poetry

    “KINDLE ME A RIDDLE is set in the 1850's with the pictures set in the landscape of eastern Utah. The book is told through the young eyes of Constance.  She is a girl who seems to think rather deeply into subjects and she asks many questions!  Her question follows this pattern each time: "What is our ______ before it was ______?"  The book goes throughout Constance's day which she shares with her Mother, Father, and brother Jack.  Constance also goes to school, does chores, listens to Papa read a book, and falls asleep with her doll in the loft of her family's cabin.

    One can learn much about pioneer life by reading this book.  I thought this book was enjoyable and that students would be entertained by it.  I believe that they would even laugh a few times reading this book!  I like how the book is written through a child's point-of-view because it seems to think the way that a child may think.  For example, Constance says that after school "we leapfrogged home" and she asks "what is my doll before it's my doll?"  Her mother answers, "Corn husks dancing in the cool moonlight."  I think that this is significant because students may not have ever thought about what children played with during the 1800's.  I know that they can not imagine playing with a doll made from corn husks!

    This book can be used in the classroom to learn about pioneer life and for students to learn new interesting facts!  For example, when Constance asks her teacher where chalk comes from, her teacher replies, "Chalk comes from seashells pressed tightly together."  I did not know that!  The teacher can use the book to teach concepts about pioneer life which include the importance of a fire in the cabin, the wagon roads which used to be buffalo trails, the abundance of apple orchards found in the west, using chalk and slates in school instead of paper, what a springhouse is, how life would be using a fire and candles for light, how baskets were made, playing with corn-husk dolls, and that pillows were made with the feathers from ducks, chicken, or geese.  All of this information can be made into a very interesting and fun lesson plan!

    The illustrations of this picture book are beautiful!  They are oil paints on a gesso background.  The paintings are all very colorful which matches the tone of the book greatly.  The landscapes look so real -- there are rolling hills, pine trees, colorful skies, birds, blooming trees, stars, and moons.  The people all look happy and gentle, and have different expressions depending on the text.  The paintings of the house portray a great picture of what the houses may have looked like -- plain and simple.  The artist also draws the fireplace in all the house pictures because the pioneer life depended greatly on the fireplace.  It was used to cook food, give light, and keep them warm.  I like how the artist uses many colors and is sure to make each page different and pleasing to the eye.

    This is a book that the teacher would enjoy reading to her students.  The students would learn about pioneer life as well as interesting facts.  The students would also like taking in the details of the paintings.”

More Reviews

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: STARRED REVIEW
“In this chipper and informative picture book, Karim (MANDY SUE DAY) and Andersen (SEVEN BRAVE WOMEN) transport readers to 1850s Utah for a glimpse at family life in a brave new world.  Constance feels terrible that she let the fire in the hearth die, and as she and her father bring home coals from a neighbor's fire, Papa cheers her with a riddle: ‘What is a wagon road before it's a wagon road?... It was a buffalo trail long and deep!’  Intrigued, Constance, Papa, Mama and Jack exchange similar riddles throughout the day, woven with seeming spontaneity into their conversation.

Aside from entertaining the family, the guessing game offers readers insight into the rhythms of another century.  Readers learn, for example, that Constance's lunch basket was once ‘saplings that leaned in the wind’ and that the family fireplace was constructed from ‘round shiny stones in the bubbling stream.’

Andersen matches Karim's homespun, image-rich language with vibrant, airy scenes of a cozy, well-appointed log cabin and rolling countryside amply dotted with trees.  She divides each spread into a column of text brightened by spot art (typically showing the ‘answer’" to the riddle), and a three-quarter-spread painting.  Her motion-filled oils are often bathed in soft purples and pinks or the inky blue of a clear night sky.  A scene of the whole family dancing in the kitchen, ‘circling like cyclones,’ is particularly memorable.

As a bonus, four pages of illustrated capsules at the end of the book further detail ‘THE LIFE OF A PIONEER FAMILY.’”
KIRKUS REVIEWS: POINTERED REVIEW
“When young Constance accidentally lets the cabin's fire die out, her father composes a riddle to cheer her up, spawning a riddle marathon as the entire family participates in creating conundrums.  Karim devises clever puzzles that reveal the origins of items that would be commonplace for a pioneer, e.g. before it was a basket, it was ‘saplings that leaned in the wind.’'  The riddles cover everything from the johnnycakes to Constance's cornhusk doll.

An addendum, ‘THE LIFE OF A PIONEER FAMILY,’ provides further information about the objects in the riddles, such as how a log cabin was constructed and why Constance and her father would have gone to their neighbor's to revive their spent fire.

Andersen's oil paintings depict carefully researched, authentic scenes from pioneer life and capture the strong, loving family bonds that resonate in the text.

The sparkling tale is fun to read and illuminating, and will round out any lesson on early settlers.”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
“This engaging pioneer story begins as Constance and her father walk through a cold morning to fetch coals from the next farm because the child forgot to bank the all-important fire before bedtime.  To cheer his daughter and let her know that all is forgiven, he asks the first riddle, ‘What is a wagon road-before it's a wagon road?’  The answer, ‘-a buffalo trail, long and deep,’ kindles Constance's imagination as the family rekindles the fire for breakfast.  The rest of her day is filled with riddles; even little brother joins the fun.  Each riddle explains the origin of a common item or aspect of frontier life.  The oil-on-gesso illustrations are expressive and jubilant, depicting a day from morning to night.

An appended section, ‘THE LIFE OF A PIONEER FAMILY,’ offers an informative paragraph about each of the items featured in the riddles.  A good choice for pioneer units or for sparking children's interest in the origins of everyday objects.”
ALA BOOKLIST
“As Constance and her father trudge down the road carrying coals to rekindle the fire in their cabin, they begin a daylong game formulating riddles that explain the details of their frontier life.  The wagon road was once a buffalo trail, their cabin a forest, and a johnnycake an ear of corn.  Mama and brother Jack join the game, too, explaining ice blocks (pond water), candles (beeswax), and pillows (duck and geese down) before they all drift off to sleep.  Andersen's oil-paint-on-gesso illustrations, set in eastern Utah in the late 1850s, have many period touches.  Each double-page spread features a half page decorated column of text alongside the main illustration.

A good choice for primary classes studying pioneer life; an appended section offers more information about each of the household items mentioned in the story.”
CAPITOL CHOICES
“A pioneer family delights in a riddle game that gets them thinking about the origins of everything from their candles to their pillows, their log cabin to their ice house.  Glowing oil paints on gesso capture fascinating details of their 19th century world.”
CHILDREN’S BOOK AND PLAY REVIEW (BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY)
“Constance has unintentionally allowed the fire in the cabin to go out, and it is now icy cold inside.  She and Papa walk to the neighbor’s to collect hot coals so that they can rekindle their fire.  On the way home Constance feels so bad about her negligence that she begins to cry, so Papa ‘kindles’ a riddle for her.  They play the riddle game all the way home, then share it with Mama and Jack.  Everyone is asking riddles.  ‘What’s an eventide candle before it’s a candle?’  The answer, ‘Beeswax, from the bright honeycomb.’

Set in pioneer days, this pleasant story deals with origins: what things were before they became what they are.  The book is educational, but it is also full of family warmth and love.  Everything takes place from morning until night in one day, and riddles are kindled at home and at school.  BYU graduate Bethanne Andersen illustrated the story.  She has given the pictures a starkness that reflects pioneer life, but has blended in a warmth to express the childlike exuberance and family love that are so much a part of the story.  Reviewed by Janice Card
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“What is a log cabin before it's a log cabin, cider before it's cider and a pillow before it's a pillow? Such riddles thread through a folksy mood piece about one girl's pioneer family, getting at the details of everyday life in lyrical oil paintings and informative appendix entries.”
NOTABLE SOCIAL STUDIES TRADE BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
“This is a warm evocation of both the harsh and tender moments of nineteenth century Great Plains life. Artist’s Note. Glossary: ‘THE LIFE OF A PIONEER FAMILY.’”
ALIBRIS
“Living in pioneer times, Constance and her family invite readers to find out what life was like back then by exchanging riddles with each other --- 'What was a wagon road before it was a wagon road?...It was a buffalo trail long and deep.' Many other riddles offer insight into how people lived their everyday lives, and are enhanced with richly colored illustrations throughout.”