Old Peter's Russian Tales 



by Arthur Ransome, 1916 (reprinted 1969)

A nice collection of Russian folk tales. The framing device is a grandfather telling them to his grandchildren, which lets the author include additional cultural background. The stories are perhaps a bit misogynist (it's always the wife who nags), and there's only one Baba Yaga story (they were a favorite from my childhood), but I found it well-written and entertaining.

(Apparently there's a newer printing, retitled Favorite Russian Fairy Tales.)

By the way, this is a Dover reprint. I don't know if that sort of thing can still happen, since Disney bribed Congress to extend copyright term. 

Posted: Sun - October 5, 2003 at 10:59 AM          

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