The Month-Brothers : A Slavic Tale

by Samuil Marshak, Thomas P. Whitney, Diane Stanley (Illustrator)

Reality gives way to enchantment in the mountains of Bohemia one blustery January night when a little girl is ordered to find snowdrops by her cruel stepmother. The child knows that these delicate spring flowers do not grow in the middle of the winter, but what else can she do but obey? In the frozen woods she comes upon twelve magical brothers who make the impossible happen. This charming story about a little girl who sees all the twelve months of the year at once is a retelling of a traditional Czechoslovakian folktale by Samuel Marshak, one of Russia's greatest folklorists. The lyricism of Marshak's language is retained in this sensitive rendering by the distinguished translator Thomas P. Whitney. Diane Stanley's dazzling watercolor illustrations enhance the telling. The opulence of her patterned textures, the intricacy of her decorative details capture the flavor of long-ago Bohemia while at the same time transforming the landscape into a world of fantasy in which flowers can indeed bloom in wintertime. This exquisite picture book will enchant readers for many years to come.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Russian Literature, Fiction, Folk Tales

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (Russian: Самуил Маршак; 3 November 1887 – 4 June 1964) was a Russian and Soviet writer, translator and children's poet. Among his Russian translations are William Shakespeare's sonnets, poems by William Blake and Robert Burns, and Rudyard Kipling's stories. Maxim Gorky proclaimed Marshak to be "the founder of Russia's (Soviet) children's literature."

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little long for a pretty basic tale, but would be a good choice in school for a cross-curriculum nature/ seasons unit... eco-minded. The cover is not appealing, imo, but of course it is apt; fortunately the interior pictures are lovely and some are even bright.

Btw, the book does say "Samuel" Marshak, but I assume the GR librarian who changed it to "Samuil" knows what s/he is doing so I'll leave it.

Included is a brief note about the origins of the tale.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my 6 year old daughter:
"They were really cool because they helped the teenager.
The artwork was cool. It had a really interesting style. The colors looked really good on the background.
The stepmother and stepdaughter were real and I felt that they were going to send her out and make sure that they got no flowers.
The twelve brothers were really kind to the girl, but they were mean to the step sister because they knew that she was really mean.
The moral of the story was that you should be nice to nature and you shouldn't be mean. The step sister and the step-mother were always sending her off in cold places and being selfish and they had the bad things happen to them which they wished on the girl."


It was a fun story, pretty standard fairy tale fare. I got this at a Library sale where I got about 30 books for $15, so I definitely got my money's worth.

The story was a bit violent/ harsh as fairy tales tend to be, but it was well balanced and the illustrations were gorgeous.

[Tchipakkan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I collect beautifully illustrated fairy tale books. This is not great. Not bad, but more "read it from the library" than "run out and buy it" level.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly kept my 4-year-old interested.