This large format, softcover book is about 9" by 12". The illustrations are outstanding. When Vassilisa's cruel stepmother and stepsisters send her into the forest to seek a light from the terrible witch Baba Yaga, the brave young girl must rely upon her magical doll - given to her by her mother - for help. Successfully completing the impossible tasks set for her, Vassilisa is sent home by Baba Yaga, who informs her: "People like you have no business to be here at all." After the terrible punishment meted out to her step-family by the witch's light, Vassilisa's cloth-making soon brings her to the attention of the Tsar...

Part of a collection of tales retold by poet and folklorist Alexandr Pushkin, Vassilisa the Beautiful is another fairytale featuring the incredible Baba Yaga, a seminal figure in Russian folk culture. The description of her eerie hut, with its gruesome gate of human bones, lit by skull-lanterns, is not easily forgotten. But for all her terrifying appearance, Baba Yaga is an ambivalent character, who almost never harms the pure and virtuous...

This retelling, published in the former Soviet Union in the 1970s, includes Ivan Bilibin's fantastic folk-motif artwork. His depiction of Baba Yaga's three riders - the white horseman to usher in the "Bright Day", the red one to herald the "Radiant Sun," and the black one to bring the "Dark Night" - are particularly powerful. I love to collect and compare various retellings of the same tale, and there is no question that Ivan Bilibin's illustrations are among my favorites. Another rendition of this tale that the reader might want to examine is Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, retold by Marianna Mayer, and illustrated by the marvelous Kinuko Craft. Both are excellent, in their way. (by AbigailAdams26, Library THing) ( )