Customer Reviews

Russian Fairy Tales (Everyman's Library Children's Classics)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, the illustrations are reduced to a smaller size than one might like and, yes, the colors are flatter than they presumably are in the originals. But for about $10 you get a very attractive, 180+ page, hard cover book with a sample of more than 50 of Ivan's Bilibin's gorgeous fairy tale illustrations, all but one or two in color and many full, or even double page.

For the price, I don't think you can go wrong if you're at all interested in Russian fairy tale stories and illustrations. By way of comparison. I recently ran across some Russian editions of illustrated Russian fairy tale books, including at least one illustrated by Biliban, at a Russian gift Shop in Oakland, CA. They were larger format and the reproduction of the illustrations was somewhat better, but the were paperback, only about 32 pages, and cost $29.95 each if I remember correctly.

The selection of tales in this book is excellent, the cover and the illustrations are luxorious, and more than worth what you pay. I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the package and saw this book, because I needed it for a friend, and it is, indeed, a wonderful present.

Very nice gift book,I ordered this book after coming back from Russia as a present for my nieces and nephews to give them a taste of the wonder of this wild country...and thoroughly enjoyed it myelf. I disagree with a previous reviewer over the illustrations: the pictures by Bilibin are great.. they're not dingy: just turn of the century Russian in a beautiful style-moderne style that was all the rage in St Petersburg.
Russian Folktales typically have charming rhymed couplets sprinkled throughout the stories and unfortunately, in this translation, these have been flattened to strict prose, but the stories are still well told.

Luxurious? I don't think so! This book is far too small to do justice to Ivan Bilibin's wonderful illustrations, which I could have accepted if their reproduction quality wasn't so poor! Most have white flecks through them, and some are even fuzzy and off-register. Ivan Bilibin's beautiful colors have also died on this paper stock, with a considerable loss of detail - don't be fooled by the picture sample here! This is a very disappointing and unworthy production.

Five-star art by the masterful by Ivan Bilibin is diluted by disjointed storytelling that really could have used a decent editor, but the book is well worth its tiny price. This collection of Russian fairy tales was collected and transcribed late in the 19th century, and the uneveness of the writing greatly diminishes the work's overall quality.

Nevertheless, the book is well worth the price simply due to Bilibin's gorgeous and evocative illustrations. After being raised in Westernized St. Petersburg in the last days of the Russian Empire, Bilibin became enraptured with traditional Russian themes and motiffs. He traveled the country and countryside widely before and during the 1917 Revolution to immerse himself in the grass-roots of rural Russia, and it permeates his art from this period.

Much of his artwork in this book is in color, but it's difficult to distinguish between the preference for muted tones in the early 20th century Europe, or if cut-rate color printing by the publisher is involved. Regardless, Bilibin's imagination and grace shine through.

The stories are poorly written, ill-paced, and hard for even seasoned fairy tale fanciers to follow. Endings are often garbled or rushed to the point of incoherence, and references to unfamiliar details of Russian life are not explained.

Still, the small cost warrants the book's purchase for all who enjoy children's book illustration at its finest.

I was really impressed with this book. I have been an admirer of Bilibin's illustrations for years, and it is good to finally have access to the stories that go with the paintings. For the price I paid, I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of this edition and its beautiful cover (it looks wonderful on my bookshelf). I am definitely planning on purchasing other titles in the Everyman's series soon.

It's true that the pictures in this book look like they could use a good cleaning, but that does nothing to diminish their beauty or the beauty of the storytelling. Classic stories from a time long ago. Our shared heritage should not be lost. I highly recommend this book.

I don't know that much about Russian fairy tales, so I cannot very well say how well the stories are summarized. As a chidrens book, they seem perfectly fine to me.
The Illustrations by Ivan Bilibin are to die for. A 13 dollar book with JUST the included illustrations would still be well worth the price. The binding and overall construction of the book are admirable too.

A good collection of stories, that would benefit from better paper and more illustrations. There are rather
frighteningevents in these tales which makes them unsuitable for very young children, and I wish there had
been anindication or recommendation of age for the audience. But the tales themselves are old Russian tales, and
the translator seems to have done a good job in preserving the spirit of the stories, which fascinate as they
recall A very long time ago...
Antoinette Constable

I love fairytales that are regionally focused, we have a close family friend that is from Russia and I bought this with her in mind, when I told her the stories and shared the book with her she was thrilled to see such a good translation of stories that she had almost forgotten from her childhood. This book is not a complete collection of Russian fairytales as it has rather glaringly left out the story of the Phoenix, but perhaps it does require its own book. The pictures in the book as very subdued but I was assured that it is because that is what traditional Russian art looks like. I would be interested in looking into other fairytale books by this group.