2 h 33 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a world of dangerous forests and clever tricksters, what chance do the poor and humble have?
Folk Tales from the Russian gathers traditional stories that Russian families pass from mouth to mouth across generations. Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal brings readers into a world of villages, farms and forests, where magic stands beside daily life. These brief tales carry the humour, fears and hopes of ordinary people.
Peasants, youngest sons, widows and simple people meet powerful rulers, rich neighbours and clever tricksters. Hard tests put the humble at the heart of the action. The collection explores old stories carried across a language, the fortunes of the poor and plain, and morals that emerge through events rather than lectures.
What you’ll discover
- Ordinary people at the centre Meet humble figures whose encounters with wealth and power give these tales their human stakes.
- Magic beside daily life Step from familiar farms and villages into a world where the wonderful feels close at hand.
- Forests and hard tests Enter deep, dangerous forests where the tales bring uncertainty and challenge into view.
- Wisdom without a sermon Discover morals through what happens, with stories that teach without stopping to lecture.
- Stories shared across generations Explore a storytelling tradition rooted in winter gatherings, work in the fields and long journeys.
Who will love it
Readers who love fairy tales, witches and talking animals, parents and teachers looking for stories to read aloud, and anyone curious about the folklore and sayings of old Russia.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A frog bride and her secret
- Ivan burns the frogskin and loses her
- Kindness to animals pays back
- The Seven Simeons and their trades
- Stealing a princess with a sinking ship
- Fate, birdsong and the simpleton hero
- Wit, greed and kindness in the shorter tales
Who’s who
- Ivan TsarevichThe youngest prince, who is married to a frog and sets out to find his lost wife Vassilissa.
- VassilissaA wise maiden under a frogskin who helps her husband with the Tsar's tasks.
- Seventh SimeonThe youngest of seven talented brothers, a self-confessed thief who agrees to steal a princess for the Tsar.
- Ivanoushka the SimpletonThe youngest son, laughed at by his brothers, who receives a magic horse from his father.
- Baba YagaThe witch who lives in a hut on hen's feet and wants to eat the children sent to her.
- Woe BogotirA ragged monster who climbs on a poor man's back and leads him toward drink and ruin.
- Father FrostThe red-nosed ruler of winter who tests the manners of those left in his fields.
- Tsar ArchideiA rich and clever ruler who cannot find a bride who matches his wit.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 33 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Cuentos populares de Rusia in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Cuentos populares de Rusia
by Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal · 1903
A prince's arrow lands in a swamp, and a croaking frog catches it, and she has a secret.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Folk Tales from the Russian gathers nine tales that Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal set down for American children. She wrote at a time when the wandering storytellers and the devoted family nurses of Russia were fading, and she wanted their stories kept.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A frog bride and her secret
The first tale, The Frog Princess, begins with a command. A sovereign prince tells his three sons to shoot arrows and marry wherever each one lands. The two elder arrows fall near a nobleman's house and a merchant's porch. Ivan Tsarevich, the youngest, shoots his into a swamp, where a frog picks it up.
Ivan complains, but his father says it is his destiny. So the brothers marry a noblewoman, a merchant's daughter and a frog. The Tsar then sets tasks for the wives. First comes a loaf of bread, then a woven rug.
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What is Folk Tales from the Russian about?
It is a collection of nine Russian folk tales, including The Frog Princess, Seven Simeons, Baba Yaga and Father Frost. They feature tsars, witches, magic horses and talking animals, and each carries a clear moral about kindness, wit or greed.
Who is Baba Yaga in these stories?
Baba Yaga is a witch who lives in a hut on hen's feet in the forest. She threatens to eat visitors, but she is outwitted by kindness, as in the tale of the twins and the black cat.
Who is Kostshei the Deathless?
Kostshei is a fearsome ruler in The Frog Princess who keeps Vassilissa in his palace. His death is hidden in a needle inside a hare, in a trunk, in an oak tree.
The author
Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal
1864–1942 · Russian folklorist and translator
Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano deBlumenthal.
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