The first man and woman are lonely. What to do? They decide to fashion children out of clay. As they are baking the little figures in their fire, they're constantly interrupted by visits from the sky-god, Nyame. As a result, some of the children are pale and underdone, some are left in so long that they come out very dark, and the rest are every shade between. Frane Lessac's gorgeous gouache paintings, inspired by West African masks and pottery, and Eric Maddern's vivid text make this one of the most compelling of creation myths for young readers.

This book was recognised by the Junior Education Books of the Year. It was recognised by the Children's Books of the Year.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2015 by Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd .

Eric Maddern has written many books for Frances Lincoln such as Earth Story and Life Story, Curious Clownfish and Rainbow Bird. The Fire Children, illustrated by Frane Lessac, was chosen for Junior Education Books of the Year 1993 and selected for Children's Books of the Year 1994. Whereabouts: Gwnyedd, Wales; Paul Hess's books include an animal series published by Zero to Ten; Josephine Poole's Jack and the Beanstalk, Alan MacDonald's Pig in a Wig and Sam MacBratney's Once There was a Hoodie, and Malachy Doyle's The Great Castle of Marshmangle. Whereabouts: Frome Frane Lessac is an artist and author of international renown having exhibited in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and the Caribbean. Her numerous children's books have been translated into a variety of languages. Frane was born in the United States but now lives in Australia.