Published February 29th 2008
by Usborne Publishing Ltd (first published January 2008)
details Hardcover, 48 pages
isbn 0746085605
4 stars
Story summary from the back cover
In this fantastic Russian folktale, Baba Yaga zooms through the forest on her flying pot. Her hair is greasy, her hands are arty. Her nose reaches down to her chin. And poor Tasha has been sent into the forest to find her…
First of all, let me say that Usborne Books are my very favorite in the whole world. Their editions are sturdy and withstand my children’s manhandling, chewing and reading. This one I picked up from the library. It has a cushioned hard cover and a ribbon inside to hold your place. I was interested in the subject because of the YA fiction book “Dreaming Anastasia” by Joy Preble. The folk tale of Baba Yaga was introduced within the story and I wanted to learn more.
The Usborne version is easy to read with beautiful illustrations and my children have all passed it around. They are picky readers, so any book that holds their interest is impressive for me! I can’t wait to pick up the other fairy tale book in the Usborne Easy Reader series.
To see images of Baba Yaga and the matryoska doll on Flickr see the photo galleries here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherzahngardner/galleries/
Shy
Interesting one! I certainly need to find out about this folklore as well and am so hoping to get a chance to read Dreaming Anastasia myself =)