Book Groups

Discussion Questions

Young Readers

What is a Primer? Did you read any of the Primers or did you jump right into the story? Why would the writer ask you to make a choice about which Primer to read?  

2) Sometimes we become overly concerned with something that, in retrospect, is not important. In Part I, what troubles Firebelly? Do his concerns change, why or why not? What is the difference between how Caroline thinks about Firebelly's problem and how her dad thinks about it? (Part I, Chapter 8)  

3) The first time Firebelly shows his underside, he does not realize he has this unique ability. (Part I, Chapter 12) What is different about the second time he shows his belly? (Part III, Chapter 13)

 4) What does the old frog say is the difference between wishing and hoping? Do you agree? Why or why not? (Part I, Chapter 5)  

5) Why is it so important for Caroline to name her new pet? (Part I, Chapter 9) How is this connected to the old frog's discussion about the difference between a frog and a toad? (Part I, Chapter 5)  

6) The old frog talks about “a periodic search for a new home.” (Part 1, Chapter 6) What are the homes of Claire, Caroline, and Firebelly like? Are they searching for new homes?

7) How are Claire and Caroline connected? What traits do they have in common?

Teenage Readers

1) Most languages have a verb form that expresses existence. In English, it is the verb to be. Typically, this verb is connected with an adjective as in “I am happy.” What is implied if no modifier is used as in “I am”.  How is this connected to life? (Part II, Chapter 1)  

2) Being wild is a way of being outside the constraints of the culture in which we grow up. Having a family and a home is part of being in a society. How does this contrast between seeking wildness and seeking a home relate to Firebelly, Caroline’s father, and the old frog? How do their experiences compare?  

3) Most choices have little impact on our lives, e.g., paper or plastic, color or black and white. Some choices have a significant impact on our futures. What choices does Firebelly make that radically change his life and the lives of those around him? (Part II, Chapter 7; Part III, Chapter 13)  

4) What would a world be like in which everyone agreed? What about a world in which there was no pain or sorrow? The parable about Mr. Snake suggests that difficulties and suffering in the world are what make life engaging and interesting. What do you think? (Part II, Chapter 8)   

5) Sometimes we do not understand how something works until it is broken and we have to put it back together. How is this idea connected to the statement: “The sting of life is not without use. When I hurt, I must think.”? (Part I, Chapter 12)

Adult Readers

1) When reading literature there is typically a strong emotional content, especially when a reader begins to empathize with the character. When one reads a text in a philosophical way, the text itself, rather than the emotions elicited by the text are important. The opening of the book offers three primers, Children, Teenager, Adult. How do the primers combine emotional content with analytic content?  

2) The philosophical belief that one's essence preceded one’s existence began with Aristotle. For example, we understand “dogness”and “frogness” without the need to have experienced a particular animal. Philosophers, such as Sartre, turned the world upside down by arguing that human existence precedes human essence because we create the essence of ourselves through the choices we make. How does this relate to the choices of Claire, and especially those of Firebelly? (Part III)

3) According to Sartre and Kierkegaard, when confronted with the vastness of complete freedom, we are often overwhelmed  with angst and anguish. How does Firebelly experience this? (Part III, Chapter 10).  

4) Dostoyevsky wrote Notes from Underground, in part, to show a person struggling against the prevailing scientific beliefs in the 19th century. How is this connected to Claire’s struggles between who she can be and who she must be. (Part III, Chapter 9)  

5) Kierkegaard describes a “knight of faith” as a person who must completely give himself over to an idea without regard for rational thought. For Kierkegaard, this was the “leap of faith” that one must take in order to accept the idea of god. Is this transformation in Firebelly foreshadowed? (Part II, Chapter 9). When Firebelly finally jumps, toward what idea is he leaping? (Part III, Chapter 13)  

6) In Being and Time Heidegger argues that we do not completely live authentic lives until we realize the finality of life and become a “being-toward-death”, a person who understands the brevity and finality of life while caring about the world. Martin Buber suggests in I and Thou that this caring can occur between any person and any object in the world. What do each of the characters in Firebelly care about? How do their cares change?