LemonSky reviewed Russian fairy tales by A. N. Afanasʹev (Pantheon fairy tale & folklore library)
Review of 'Russian fairy tales' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is the largest, most comprehensive collection of Russian fairy tales I have come across. Jeremiah Curtin used similar tales in his "Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars," which was published in 1903. However, he edited the tales to make them more suitable for his Western audience. I have read other versions of these tales - "Vasilisa the Fair," "Baba Yaga," "Maria Morevna," etc. - but it is nice to read the original versions. This is a large volume, and you can skip around as much as you like without really missing anything.
I do not know if children will like this volume. Personally, I don't think it's child-friendly - the paragraphs can be long (half a page or more at times), the names are often unpronounceable for those of us who don't know Russian, and there are no illustrations. The stories can be quite …
This is the largest, most comprehensive collection of Russian fairy tales I have come across. Jeremiah Curtin used similar tales in his "Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars," which was published in 1903. However, he edited the tales to make them more suitable for his Western audience. I have read other versions of these tales - "Vasilisa the Fair," "Baba Yaga," "Maria Morevna," etc. - but it is nice to read the original versions. This is a large volume, and you can skip around as much as you like without really missing anything.
I do not know if children will like this volume. Personally, I don't think it's child-friendly - the paragraphs can be long (half a page or more at times), the names are often unpronounceable for those of us who don't know Russian, and there are no illustrations. The stories can be quite sad and even dark, though there is no sex or profanity.
