Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga

This edition of the book is actually quite beautiful. Bilibin's illustrations are always a treat. Honestly, I bought this book primarily for the pictures. The fact that the story was in English was a bonus for my boyfriend who grew up with many Raduga and Mir translated publications.However, the translation could be better. The language is just so unnecessarily awkward, contrived and convoluted. There are some typos too. For instance, "Then suddenly the wood became full of a terrible noise..." First, it should be woods not wood. Secondly, doesn't "Then suddenly woods filled with terrible noise" sound better? Here is another,"Years passed, till Vasilisa grew up and became of an age when it is good to marry." Just say, "Years passed and Vasilisa grew up to be the most beautiful maiden in the village." It is one of those "duh!" moments. After all, that is why all the suitors came knocking! LOL! Or, "Years passed and Vasilisa reached marrying age." Another example of sloppy translation is "Foo! Foo! I smell a smell that is Russian. Who is here?" The original phrase in Russian literally says, "Eww! Eww! I sense the scent of Russian spirit. Who is here?" The phrase refers to two things. One is, of course, identity pride. The second, and perhaps more important, reference is to the fact that Baba Yaga is an unholy and an inhuman creature that can essentially smell baptized human spirit." So, to an international reader, I think, Baba Yaga really meant to say, "Foo! Foo! I sense a human presence. Who is here?!"Another thing that irks me is the use of indefinite and definite articles in front of Baba Yaga. It is not "a" Baba Yaga or "the" Baba Yaga. It is just Baba Yaga. There is only one Baba Yaga of multiple renditions. I do not expect Russians to fully understand the use of articles since they are not a part of speech in Russian language, but I do expect a professional translator to know that names are not reseeded by articles. ... In most cases anyway. I also expect a translator to know the difference between "further" and "farther." One walks farther, but furthers his studies.Lastly, another confusing thing that stood out was the use of the word "stove." Old Russian and, for that matter Ukrainian and other, huts and cabins have brick ovens with platforms at the top for sleeping. So, Baba Yaga sleeps on top of the brick oven, not a stove, LOL! These ovens are very similar to German bread ovens.Ultimately, once, you are able to get passed all of these irky things, you can actually enjoy the dark and anthropomorphic folklore of Russia in all of its pagan beauty!

I bought this because I had a copy as a child and loved it, but my mom had thrown away all my childhood memories to spite me.This is not exactly the same as other versions of the book. The doll’s poem and other iconic moments have had language modernized and simplified - kind of like the NIV or made-for-TV version of the story.

I had a beauty copy of this thar got lost. I had hoped this was the same, but it isn’t printed on good quality paper and has a ‘knock-off’ quality. So sorry to have lost the other and to have this be the replacement— but at least the stories are here once again

“Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga” is a traditional Russian fairytale retold by Alexander Afanasyev and translated into English by Post Wheeler in the 2017 edition published by Planet Books. In the story, Vasilisa is given a magic doll by her mother as she is dying. She tells Vasilisa to give the little doll some food and drink and then it will help her solve whatever problem she’s facing.Indeed, the doll saves her over and over, even when faced with the ogre Baba Yaga, who threatens to eat Vasilisa if she doesn’t do everything she’s told. Eventually, she’s brought to the tzar, who falls in love with her.The story is full of interesting characters, but Vasilisa is little beyond her beauty and her magic doll.The real reason to read this book is the amazing illustrations. The full color plates are a delight to the eye, lavish and detailed and magical, with decorated borders. Every page has a narrow decorated border as well.This is a gorgeous book with an interesting story.

I love Russian Folk tales, I have been reading them since childhood and my favorite ones are the ones where Ivan Bilibin is the artist, he is amazing and one of the best illustrators of his era. The only thing I didn't like about this particular book, is that the colors are not very good, the printing process seems to be off, in one page you see the character in bright colors, and in the next page the same character's colors seem faded or too dark, and it has nothing to do with the character being in a dark environment (for instance, at dusk or at night) but it seems to be just a problem with the editing/printing of the graphics. Still, if you don't mind those little defects, this story is beautiful and the drawings even more. I have read this story in a different book some years ago, and the colors where bright and vibrant throughout the book, that's why I can tell, there's a big difference with this one. You'll enjoy it anyway, Russian Folk Tales are amazing :)

An amazing Russian folk tale of the infamous Baba Yaga. I had read this version several years ago, and it was a nice trip down memory lane. I know it is a watered down version of a much older story, and I look forward to further research.

So many lovely messages in this story. Well written and illustrated. A great fairy tale. I liked everything about it. I look forward to sharing it.

There are many versions of the Baba Yaga story (we have at least two others) and this one is a keeper. The way this story is told, including its idiosyncratic use of language, has served us well. We have reread it many times and it continues to delight.

This is a lovely story though told in a rather archaic way with "thees" and "thous". I first bought the book as published by Progress Publishers (Moscow) in the 1970s - it cost only about 30p then!!! The wonderful illustrations by Ivan Bilibin are not well reproduced in the Amazon edition, garish colours and the shiny paper does not do the pictures justice. And I'm not sure that all the illustrations appear in this reprint, but without my 1970s copy to compare I can't say for certain.Overall, a bit of a disappointment though the folk tale is still enjoyable and one can still see how beautiful Bilibin's ilustrations are.

Bought it mainly for the pictures. Dissatisfied with the low picture quality. Completely different than seen on the Amazon listing. Printed on a cheap, thin paper, pictures lacking brightness and depth. Disappointed.

I'm a lover of Russian art and the illustrations in these skazki are as beautiful as Vasilisa. Tales like these have a sound moral purpose, too. They are meant to warn the young off from venturing into the huge forests wherein they'll easy become disorientated and food for bears and wolves!This tale of how the beautiful Vassilisa outsmarts the scariest witch, Baba Yaga has to be the best of all the skazki?It's certainly my favourite!

Beautiful illustrations by Ivan Bilibin. Great for John Wick fans too. Not the highest quality paper or print but perfect for kids bedtime reading.

I loved it. It was just as I remembered it from my daughter's childhoodl