The Tsar's Promise

by Robert D. San Souci, Lauren A. Mills (Illustrator)

. . . San Souci emphasizes the clash of good and evil. The illustrations set against soft gold, contrast the protagonists' beauty . . . with the grotesque demon . . . --fairy-tale telling-and-showing at its most romantic.--Kirkus Reviews. Full-color illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Russia, Childrens, Nonfiction

30 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Robert Daniel San Souci (October 10, 1946 – December 19, 2014) was a multiple award-winning children's book author, who resided in San Francisco, California. He often worked with his brother, Daniel San Souci, a children's book illustrator. He was a consultant to Disney Studios and was instrumental in the production of the film Mulan, for which he wrote the story. He studied folklore in graduate school. He died after suffering a head injury while falling from a high height in San Francisco in December 2014. He was only 68 years old.

Reviews

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful Russian folktale featuring a journey through an enchanted kingdom. The Tsar makes a promise to the river demon who confronts him on a journey. Little does he know it would involve giving the monster his only child. Years later the Tsar has to make good on his promise. It is a retelling of an earlier tale. This book features gorgeous watercolor illustrations throughout. This would be a great addition to a folktale collection if you need a Russian story. Highly recommended for Grades 4-5.

[Carfig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russian folk tale about a vain tsar who won't trim his really long beard, gets it caught by an ogre and makes the "Give me the first thing you see when you get home" promise to get free. What is he thinking, there is nothing valuable at home? And the first thing he sees is the son he didn't realize he had (the tsar was lost for 8 months). Fortunately, the son is not alone in needing to escape the ogre.

[Chrisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I wonder about how illustrators decide to illustrate their book. Why end a lovely book (when you obviously have talent) with a blurry map when you could end it with a lovely portrait-esque painting which was placed earlier in the book? And if you could follow that wandering question you'll know why I dislike most of the picture books I dislike.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO COOL.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because of the cover; I loved the illustrations (the story however was very similar to other faery tales and paled in comparison). More stars for the illustrations than for the text. 4 stars for illustrations; 2 stars for text for a total of 3 stars.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

What beautiful pictures and a wonderful story.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures with a marginal story line

[Jean-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice illustrations but we read a better version of this story in Fairy Tale from Eastern Europe by Neil Philip. We read this to complement our middle ages history about Russia.