Baba Yaga: A Russian Folktale

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Less compelling than Patricia Polacco's Babushka Baba Yaga (Children's Forecasts, July 12), which also features the witch of Russian legend, Arnold's rather thin story is noteworthy chiefly for the intriguing art that accompanies it. Here, Baba Yaga kidnaps Tishka, beloved son of an elderly couple, and takes him to her shack so that her daughter can cook him up for supper. But Tishka outwits the would-be chef, putting her in the oven in his place, and Baba Yaga unwittingly eats her daughter, whereupon Tishka escapes. Arnold supplies gouache paintings inspired by ``lubok'' pictures, a Russian folk art medium that dates from the 17th century. Her vibrantly colored illustrations, printed with separately executed black line drawings, resemble primitive woodcuts--a fitting match for this retelling of a Russian folktale. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Rivkah Y. Lambert

In the introduction, we learn that Baba Yaga is a familiar character in Russian children's folk stories and that she can be bad or good. In this tale Baba Yaga is a nasty witch who matches wits with a young boy named Tishka. She kidnaps him, intending to have him cooked for her supper, but she is tricked into eating her own ugly daughter. The story and illustrations may frighten young readers.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-Bold illustrations combine with an absorbing story to create a Baba Yaga who definitely means business. For the text, Arnold has used her own translation of ``Tereshichka,'' a tale collected by Aleksandr Afanas'ev in the 19th century. In a prefatory note, she explains Baba Yaga's role in Russian folklore, cites her source, and describes the media she used for the illustrations. Longing for a baby, a couple wrap a piece of wood in a blanket and rock it to sleep in a cradle. When the wood is transformed into a little boy, the delighted pair name him Tishka and raise him as a son. Although he has been warned about Baba Yaga, the boy is tricked by the evil witch and taken home to be her dinner. In a plot twist reminiscent of the Grimms' ``Hansel and Gretel,'' Tishka feigns ignorance and asks Baba Yaga's daughter to show him how to enter the oven. In the process, the girl becomes the witch's main course and Tishka hides in a tree. Discovering she has eaten her own daughter, Baba Yaga flies into a rage and tries to cut down the tree with her iron teeth. A goose flying overhead saves the boy and is later rewarded with food and a warm home. The story's more brutal elements are nicely balanced by Arnold's extraordinary artwork and her storytelling talent. Inspired by Russian folk art, the vibrant illustrations are done in gouache on watercolor paper and outlined with heavy black lines. Their size influences the pace of the book-small ones accompany the pages of text; full-page and double-page spreads mirror the important plot twists. Suitable for sharing aloud with older children, Arnold's depiction of Baba Yaga pulls very few punches. In the process, it presents a slice of Russian folklore in an authentic and masterful style.-Denise Anton Wright, Illinois State University, Normal

Hazel Rochman

A child outwits the terrifying witch Baba Yaga in this folktale translated, retold, and illustrated by a Russian emigre now living in New York. In an interesting note, Arnold talks about her source (the nineteenth-century collection of Afanas'ev) and about the style of illustrations, which are based on early Russian "lubok" woodcut folk art. The story is about the child Tishka who's kidnapped by the wicked witch. She orders her daughter to cook him well, but clever Tishka outwits the cook, shoves her into the oven, tricks Baba Yaga into eating her own daughter, and then escapes from the witch just in time. The pictures may be true to their early Russian context, but their heavy black lines and distorted figures may be bewildering to young children today. Still, the energy--and the nightmare--is here in the bold gouache colors and simple primitive shapes.