Customer Reviews

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: A Russian Tale

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Robin Williams made an audio version of this story that my younger brother would replay for hours on end...It's hilarious and engaging, with his obvious talent for the voices...

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship won the Caldecott Medal in 1969 as the best illustrated American children's book in that year. The illustrations feature bright colors, subtle shadings, and stylistically interesting pen highlights to suggest outlines and details. The illustrations take you enjoyably into a magical world for a fascinating journey, and greatly add to the pleasure of this traditional Russian tale. The story is build around the theme of: "You see how God loves simple folk."

A family has three sons, two who are clever and one who is foolish. "He was as simple as a child, simpler than some children, and he never did anyone a harm in his life." The parents were proud of their clever sons and disappointed in their foolish one. When the news comes that the Czar wants a flying ship, the parents support the efforts of the two clever sons. They set off and are never heard from again. When the foolish son sets off, he gets the the minimum of support and encouragement.

He soon runs into "an ancient old man with a bent back, and a long beard, and eyes hidden under his bushy eyebrows." The foolish son offers to share his meager food, apologizing to the ancient man. But when he opens his bag, marvelous food appears instead. The ancient man has magical powers and teaches the foolish son how to make a flying ship for the Czar. The ancient man also advises the foolish son to take along everyone he meets on his trip to the Czar's palace to deliver the flying ship.

Along the way, the foolish son meets a most unusual set of people with great individualized talents. As you read the book, you will be wondering what their significance could possibly be. They turn out to be a sort of 19th century X-Men.

The promised reward for bringing the flying ship had been the hand of the Czar's daughter in marriage and a rich dowry. When the foolish son arrives, the Czar's men report that those in the ship are only a bunch of uncouth peasants. As a result, the Czar doesn't want to make good on his promise, so he sets up extreme challenges (not unlike the Wizard of Oz). Using the remarkable talents of his passengers, all of the tests are met by the foolish son.

The foolish son is married to the Czar's daughter, and they live happily ever after. The foolish son then "became so clever that all the court repeated everything he said."

As you can see, the story is also a satire on the people who think they are clever or know how to identify cleverness. They often outsmart themselves. The Czar wanted a flying ship, but would have been much better off making good use of the talents of the peasants who were already part of his kingdom. Also, we are never told what use he made of the flying ship. It appears that he gave his daughter away for a whim. The winning man might as easily have been a terrible person. The courtiers also thought that anyone who was powerful was clever. I laughed aloud several times while reading the story.

Unlike most children's stories for this age group (4-8), this book has a richness of plot, character development, and humor that makes it more like a novel.

After you have finished enjoying the story with your child, I suggest that the two of you have some fun talking about places where "clever" people act foolishly and vice versa. You can help your child see the bright side of much of the nonsense that goes on around us.

Be foolish in providing and seeking out help, and a great bounty of friendship will be yours!

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Arthur Ransome with illustrations by Uri Shulevitz is easily my favorite picture book. Everything is perfect about the book. First of all the pictures are marvelous. All of Shulevitz's books have good pictures, but this might be his best. The pictures jump off the page with their color and with the humor portrayed in them. The story is, of course, the best part of the book. The story is hilarious with marvelously interesting characters. It also has some good morals like "God loves simple folk." I work in a library, and adults and kids all love this book. I have also seen the book performed for children, and it proved to be excellent for reading aloud. The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship is an amazing picture book and deseves is Caldecott Medal and its classic status.

So I am a sucker for fairy tales. What else do you want me to do? In true Russian fashion, a practically universal story is made larger-than-life to celebrate the underdog and spit on the upperclass. Social uprising, anyone? Political intentions aside, it's a fun, witty story for all ages, and the illustrations in those bold colors and Russian intricacy add so much!

The story is great, if a little predictable. The young fool sets off to find a flying ship and thereby win the princess. A magical old man helps him find the ship, then the fool picks up a bunch of people on the way to the czar's palace, all of whom have these weird special talents. Once at the palace, the czar doesn't want to hand over his daughter and sets before the fool a number of tasks, which amusingly, but somewhat predictably line up with the special skills of each of the people he picked up along the way.

The illustrations leave a lot to be desired. Although they are fun, detailed and colorful, they miss many chances to illustrate the story more dramatically. This is surprising given that the illustrator claims in his bio to be a filmmaker in addition to a children's book author. His illustrations need some close-ups and more interesting angles!

Still, I would recommend this book, it is a wonderful example of a Russian folk tale. In the hands of another author and illustrator, it could be even better!

"The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship" has remained to be one of the greatest Russian folktales ever told and has spawn many popular movies such as "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." This story is written by Arthur Ransome along with illustrations by Uri Shulevitz and is an instant treat!

The story starts out with a peasant fool whose older brothers are more favored by his parents than him. One day, the Czar of Russia proclaims that whoever builds a flying ship will marry his daughter, the princess. The two older brothers start on their way as their parents give them delicious food and lavish clothes. When the fool spots all this, he begs for his parents' permission too, but his parents only scoff at him and only give him bread and water. The fool meets a strange old man along the way and they end up having beautiful feast together. Then, the old man tells the fool to follow some instructions in building a flying ship. The fool follows these instructions and has a flying ship in no time. As the fool sails in his ship, he meets a listener, a runner, a sharpshooter, a drinker, an eater, a hay-carrier, and a brushwood carrier. They head to the Czar's palace and the Czar is none too pleased about the guests, so he sets them impossible tasks to do.

This book has simplistic yet clear drawings and an imaginative style of storytelling that should be a favorite among children and paves way for other cult classics. Also, check out the Rabbit Ears' version narrated by Robin Williams. It is hilarious and creative.

This children's book is a retelling of an old Russian tale by Arthur Ransome, who had first published the story way back in 1916. It is about an honest and innocent young boy who tries to find a flying ship and, in so doing, encounters several men with unique abilities. At the end of the story, the boy wins the hand of the Czar's daughter and the boy is no longer regarded as a fool. I am certain that I shall be in the minority in my opinion because I see a slightly darker side to the old folktale. I think that the young lad is more foolish than the original author intended. He had discovered flight yet failed to use it to help others or to advance his kingdom. He found people with magical and unusual powers but fails to use them to help others or to better the Kingdom after the original "mission" had been completed. The book was illustrated by Uri Shulevitz and it won the 1969 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a book for children.

The story of the fool and his remarkable flying ship is a classic through and through. The classic tale of how a single man is able, with the help of his clever friends, to fulfill every task the local ruler (in this case, the Czar) sets before him is both a pleasure to read and a joy to reread. In the case of the 1968 edition of this story, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz, I can't say that this is the definitive version of the tale to read to your kids. It's enjoyable, yes. It has a nice text and it flows rather well. Unfortunately, the illustrations are a bit lax and while the book is a good read, it doesn't endear itself as much as it might to the average child reader.

In this book, there was once a boy who was a fool who had two elder brothers who were intelligent. The Czar commands that whosoever brings before him a flying ship shall marry his daughter. Intrigued, the elder brothers take off to do the deed and are never heard from again. The fool also goes off and in his travels he meets a wise old man. After sharing his repast, the old man gives the lad some strict instructions that sound ridiculous but ultimately lead to a beautiful flying ship. Once the lad takes off he gathers with him every man he sees on the road, no matter how bizarre. After landing in the Czar's backyard, the peasants on the ship do not sufficiently impress the lofty ruler. He then proceeds to set a series of incredibly difficult tasks for the fool, but in the end the magic men and the boy overcome every last one. Finally, the fool marries the princess and (as a result of his riches) is now handsome, clever, and impresses everyone he meets. The end.

Completely disregarding an ending where not only do the clothes make the man but wealth as well, the book is a good one. Randsome has a nice grasp on the best ways in which to tell this tale, and the escalating silliness is impressive. I don't wish to put down the art that illustrator Uri Shulevitz worked so hard to produce for the book, but let's face facts. This is fairly bland stuff. Drawn with rather sketchy pencils and lines, the book is adequate but by no means overwhelming. The fool appears as an apple-cheeked young rapscallion but you don't really feel anything for him. Undoubtedly there are those that have loved these pictures since their youth and will be deaf to any criticisms I might offer. In such cases as those I'll merely say that should you wish to purchase this story, I recommend you sample other versions as well until you find just the right one. I doubt you'd be disappointed by a little comparison shopping. Though a fine creation and a loving book, it could do with a little pepping up in the art department.

This item was not as descibed. It was all marked up with magic marker on almost every page and this was not secribed. Poor, poor.