What do you think?
Rate this book
The Tall Book of Nursery Tales
Presents twenty-four classic children's stories, including "Little Red Riding Hood," "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Three Little Pigs"
127 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1942
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Feodor Rojankovsky
106 books15 followersFeodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky (Russian: Фёдор Степанович Рожанковский) (December 24, 1891 – October 12, 1970), also known as Rojan, was a Russian émigré illustrator. He is well known both for children's book illustration and for erotic art. He won the 1956 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration from the American Library Association, recognizing Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff.
Rojankovsky was born in Mitava, Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Latvia). He studied two years at the private Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture but left in 1914 to serve in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. He started work in children's book illustration in Ukraine until he was conscripted by the White Army in 1919, soon to be a prisoner of war in Poland. Soon afterward, he moved to France and studied under Esther Averill. In 1941, he moved to the US and began a career of illustrating more than a hundred books, most featuring animals or nature. Rojankovsky also wrote books, an example being The Great Big Animal Book, published in 1952.
Rojankovsky was born in Mitava, Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Latvia). He studied two years at the private Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture but left in 1914 to serve in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. He started work in children's book illustration in Ukraine until he was conscripted by the White Army in 1919, soon to be a prisoner of war in Poland. Soon afterward, he moved to France and studied under Esther Averill. In 1941, he moved to the US and began a career of illustrating more than a hundred books, most featuring animals or nature. Rojankovsky also wrote books, an example being The Great Big Animal Book, published in 1952.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 27, 2022
A Tall Book of Nursery Tales was my favorite bedtime story book in my early childhood. Already old and falling apart then, its combination of unique art and odd stories added a darkish twist to my dreams and nightmares.
Many of the tales between its covers are widely familiar — Little Red Ridinghood, The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs — but it also includes lesser known, odd tales that I’ve seldom seen elsewhere. Among these, I loved The Three Big Sillies, The Wolf and the Kids, and The Wee Little Woman — the first for its wonderful absurdity, the second for its tingling sense of menace, and the third for a delightfully chilling eeriness.
What truly set this book apart was its distinctive artwork. The illustrations by Feodor Rojankovsky were categorically different from the run of the mill, sentimental, Disenyfied pictures in most of the other books of its kind. Rojankovsky’s people looked like homely European peasants, dour and downtrodden. His anthropomorphic wolves and bears looked more like their wild and dangerous equivalents than cute cartoons. These illustrations gave this book a feeling of otherness that transported my young imagination like nothing else at that time.
Many of the tales between its covers are widely familiar — Little Red Ridinghood, The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs — but it also includes lesser known, odd tales that I’ve seldom seen elsewhere. Among these, I loved The Three Big Sillies, The Wolf and the Kids, and The Wee Little Woman — the first for its wonderful absurdity, the second for its tingling sense of menace, and the third for a delightfully chilling eeriness.
What truly set this book apart was its distinctive artwork. The illustrations by Feodor Rojankovsky were categorically different from the run of the mill, sentimental, Disenyfied pictures in most of the other books of its kind. Rojankovsky’s people looked like homely European peasants, dour and downtrodden. His anthropomorphic wolves and bears looked more like their wild and dangerous equivalents than cute cartoons. These illustrations gave this book a feeling of otherness that transported my young imagination like nothing else at that time.
November 15, 2017
Pitkulainen malli herättää huomion, kuvitukset ihanan herttaisia ja nostalgisia. Sudentappamisjuttujen opettavaisuudesta voi olla montaa mieltä, mutta jotenkin silti tykkään - ihan vaikka yleissivistyksen takia, että kuullaan joskus näitä klassikkosatuja.
July 7, 2013
Another find in my Keepsies box, and reread it. It is a good mixture of Grimm, Andersen and Aesop stories as well as a few more whose authors I forget, and not a princess in sight! Lots of talking animals, wolves, chickens, goats, and quite a few wee little old ladies.
April 6, 2021
I bought this book for the illustrations by I enjoyed most of the stories as well.
June 5, 2021
Vanhoja satuklassikoita. Nostalgisia ja ajattomia.
November 4, 2022
Love the classics❤️
October 14, 2010
A friend of mine, a graduate student of mathematics, became inadvertantly pregnant soon upon marrying a recently divorced fellow with three teenagers. The child was born, named Jack and soon became a large part of my life as we're old friends, his mother and I, and their family lives only a little more than a block from my home.
Within months of his birth I started taking Jack on walks pretty much every evening in a backpack designed for kids. He's almost two and a half now and we're still doing it, usually at dusk, usually for about an hour, but sometimes less, sometimes much more. I like walking. I like having company. Besides, he's increasingly good exercise and is almost, just almost, making sense now.
As a consequence of our daily time together, Jack and I are best of friends and he often wants me to hang around to play after our walks. Some of the play now consists of looking at books together. He knows the alphabet and loves to hunt for things in book illustrations. Tonight, after a two hour walk along Sheridan and the Lake, he brought me this book and another, Roberto the Architect.
Wow! I recognized it. Indeed, I knew all of the stories, remembered most of the pictures--and there are a lot of them. Mom used to read this very book to me when I was his age. Indeed, I'd have her repeat "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to me as part of the nightly ritual of putting me to crib. It's pretty amazing to see a book you haven't seen since you were a preschooler, having not thought of it at all during the intervening years (although, I have occasionally thought of those goats, but in Mom's voice/s, not in terms of text).
It's difficult to know how to rate such a book. The stories are very, very simple--taken from a variety of sources like Aesop and the Grimm Brothers. An author isn't credited in the 1972 edition Jack has. Maybe Feodor Rojankovsky, credited as the illustrator, did the redactions. As text it's pretty lousy by any adult standards. Some of the pictures, however, are pretty good. Rojankovsky is great with ducks. The "ugly duckling" is very pathetically cute as such--as aren't we all?
Within months of his birth I started taking Jack on walks pretty much every evening in a backpack designed for kids. He's almost two and a half now and we're still doing it, usually at dusk, usually for about an hour, but sometimes less, sometimes much more. I like walking. I like having company. Besides, he's increasingly good exercise and is almost, just almost, making sense now.
As a consequence of our daily time together, Jack and I are best of friends and he often wants me to hang around to play after our walks. Some of the play now consists of looking at books together. He knows the alphabet and loves to hunt for things in book illustrations. Tonight, after a two hour walk along Sheridan and the Lake, he brought me this book and another, Roberto the Architect.
Wow! I recognized it. Indeed, I knew all of the stories, remembered most of the pictures--and there are a lot of them. Mom used to read this very book to me when I was his age. Indeed, I'd have her repeat "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to me as part of the nightly ritual of putting me to crib. It's pretty amazing to see a book you haven't seen since you were a preschooler, having not thought of it at all during the intervening years (although, I have occasionally thought of those goats, but in Mom's voice/s, not in terms of text).
It's difficult to know how to rate such a book. The stories are very, very simple--taken from a variety of sources like Aesop and the Grimm Brothers. An author isn't credited in the 1972 edition Jack has. Maybe Feodor Rojankovsky, credited as the illustrator, did the redactions. As text it's pretty lousy by any adult standards. Some of the pictures, however, are pretty good. Rojankovsky is great with ducks. The "ugly duckling" is very pathetically cute as such--as aren't we all?
January 17, 2009
Wish I could find a copy of this childhood favorite!
February 13, 2009
Original tales told in original version. I have this book copyrighted 1944.
April 27, 2012
Some of these stories seem way out of date, but they are classics everyone should read once.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews