Review: Baba Yaga: A Russian Folktale

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kimmel, Eric, 1991. BABA YAGA: A RUSSIAN FOLKTALE. Ill. by Megan Lloyd. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 082340854x

2. PLOT SUMMARY
BABA YAGA is a Russian folktale cut from the same mold as classics such as Snow White and Hansel and Gretel. An honest tradesman, who happens to be a widower, lives alone with his beautiful daughter, Marina. Beautiful, that is, if it weren’t for the huge horn growing from the center of her forehead. When her father remarries, Marina’s new step mother and step sister turn out to be her worst nightmare. When her father leaves on business and does not return, Marina is sent by her evil stepmother into the clutches of the Auntie in the Forest, a witch by the name of Baba Yaga. On her way, Marina befriends a small frog, whose advice helps her not only to escape the witch, but to remove her horn as well. In the end, due to good fortune and kindness to small creatures, Marina is rewarded, while her evil step sister is left to reap the “rewards” of a wish gone awry—a horn of her own, to wear until the end of her days.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The story possesses a style of writing that is simultaneously whimsical and dark. Some of the suspense is genuine, but by the end of the story, the plot is wrapped up squarely in the favor of the virtuous, while evil-doers are punished. Many thematic elements are shared between the tale of Baba Yaga, and more widely-known Western fairytales such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel. Lloyd’s illustrations are plain—done in watercolor—but expressive, and stylistically, they serve Kimmel’s adaptation well. The past-tense, fairytale-style narrative of Kimmel’s writing lends his version of the tale of Baba Yaga a sense of authenticity, allowing it a timeless quality.


4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
BOOKLIST review: "Folktale lovers will relish this lively version."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review: "This engrossing story is both fanciful and suspenseful."

5. CONNECTIONS
*This story is excellent October reading that would lend itself well to any unit involving spooky, Halloween-appropriate literature.
*Other folktales/fairytales with similar themes:
Rylant, Cynthia. HANSEL AND GRETEL. ISBN 1423111869
Grimm, Jakob. Grimm, Wilhelm. SNOW WHITE: A TALE FROM THE BROTHER GRIMM. ISBN 1402771576
Brown, Marshall. CINDERELLA. ISBN 0689814747
Mayer, Marianna. BABA YAGA AND VASILISA THE BRAVE. ISBN 0688085008