The Bun: A Tale from Russia

by Marcia Brown

The bun gets away from the old man and his wife, the hare, the wolf, and the bear, but the cunning fox poses a different problem.

Genres: Picture Books, Russia, Childrens, Folk Tales, Fairy Tales

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 1972

About the author

An American children's book author and illustrator, and a high school teacher, Marcia Brown was born in Rochester, New York in 1918, and was educated at The New York State College for Teachers (now University at Albany). She taught at Cornwall High School in New York City, and published her first book, The Little Carousel, in 1946. She wrote and illustrated more than thirty books for children over the course of her career, winning three Caldecott Medals and six Caldecott Honors, as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal and the Regina Medal. She died in 2015.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Kolobok - the little round roll or bun, who runs away from his creators, and teases a series of animals, before finally being outwitted (and eaten) by a fox - can be found in many Slavic folk traditions. Irina Zheleznova, for instance, includes the Ukrainian variant, The Little Round Bun in her collection of Ukrainian Folk Tales . Similar tales, about runaway pancakes, have been recorded in Germany (see Carl and Theodor Colshorn's Märchen und Sagen aus Hannover ) and Norway (Asbjørnsen & Moe's Norwegian Folk Tales ). Here in the United States, of course, we have the tale of The Gingerbread Man .

Marcia Brown, whose folkloric retellings include Stone Soup and Once a Mouse... , presents the Russian version of this widespread tale in The Bun, complete with her signature illustrations, done this time in bright reds, greens, and browns. I was happy to stumble across this adaptation of the story, mostly because of the many folkloric associations mentioned above, but am not surprised that it has gone out of print. A Russian-speaking friend assures me that the Bun's little song is quite amusing in the original, but I don't think it translates very well here, and I have a hard time imagining that young English readers will be particularly enthralled with it - particularly when they have The Gingerbread Man to turn to...

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the classic story of the gingerbread man, only it’s the Russian version. Hence, a bun.

Moral of the story: don’t get so cocky or over sure of yourself that you stop thinking things through.

Wonderful pictures in this edition!

Ages: 4 - 10

[Mariee · Rating 4 out of 5]

七五調の訳のリズムが軽快で、読み聞かせにぴったりだ。
今回は赤、緑、茶色、黄色。これだけ。色彩が限定されるとぐっと情報に注目できる。パンとそれを食べようとする者たち。巧みに逃げてくるパンはずる賢さまんてんだけど、マァ、バターで仕上げてる感じがおいしそう。
最後はかしこ対かしこの戦い。結末はいかに。

[Laura Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the text of the story provided nothing new, the illustrations are gorgeous.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good little story! Great illustrations and a good moral. Pride always leads to one's own downfall.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a familiar tale. A bun escapes from a kitchen. It meets several animals, and each one wants to eat the bun. But the bun sings a song and escapes. Finally it meets a wolf, the wolf tricks the bun into getting on its nose, then on its tongue, and of course eats the bun.

The song is a little long and repetitive. However, I sort of think it hearkens back to an era when kids must have had much longer attention spans! (Or at least book publishers expected them to.)

[Alnora]

Although I liked the story and morale it teaches, the pictures weren't by favorite. I understand that it's an old book, but I just wish there would've been more colors.

[Sandra Vicars · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairy tale similar to The Gingerbread Man. The illustrations are done in crayon and will appeal to children.

[Lester]

okay

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Variation on "The Gingerbread Man."