طائر النار: حكايات شعبية روسية

by Igor Yershov (Illustrator), Ksenia Yershova (Illustrator), غائب طعمة فرمان (Translator)

قصص من الاتحاد السوفياتي - طائر النار
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حكايات شعبية روسية للأطفال

Genres: Fiction, Russia, Childrens

86 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Igor Ivanovich Yershov (1916 - 1985). Igor Ershov (Yershov) was a Russian painter and graphic designer. He was born into an artistic family; his father Ivan Yershov was an opera singer with the Imperial Marinskiy Theatre and his mother was both a singer and a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1932, Yershov began his studies at the academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Amongst his professors were I. Brodsky and I. Bilibin. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War when he was evacuated to Tashkent.

Yershov graduated from the Academy in 1947, presenting lithographs for A. Pushkin`s Bronze Horseman. In 1949, a jubilee edition of Pushkin`s works was published with illustrations by ... Displaying 750 of 1445 characters.

Reviews

[J. Boo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated book of Russian fairy tales, very distinct from Grimm.

Did I mention the illustrations? Because I'm going to do it again. They're worth it. Fantastic colors, surrounded by intricate black-and-white inked borders. Another appreciative reader scanned them in here. If the Yershovs did anything else, I would love to see it. (*)

I had this book when I was a kid (and still do), even though it was originally published in Moscow. My parents lived in a ultra-liberal college town in the 1970s and I suppose some local leftist picked it up as a souvenir of his pilgrimage to the Soviet Union, was disappointed in the lack of socialist undertones, and sold it at a garage sale.

(*) Some time in the 1990s an artist modeled the cover of a fantasy book - with the firebird in its cage - after one of the Yershovs' pictures. I've spent a while on an image search, hunting for which book that might have been without success. Please leave a comment if you figure it out! I suspect otherwise this will vaguely bother me for the next forty years.

[Berita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to read fairy tales from other places around the world.

[Elon Slootweg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek heeft zo veel magie in mijn jeugd gebracht. Ik kan me nog duidelijk herinneren hoe ik dit keer op keer las, de letters werden mijn vrienden en de pagina's voelden als een verademing, als een oude bekende. Ik zal niet zeggen dat dit boek het begin, of ook maar het hoogtepunt was van mijn liefde voor lezen, maar het heeft er zeker aan bijgedragen.

[Ania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jedna z pierwszych książek jakie pamiętam z dzieciństwa

[Sonali Ekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had finally got hold of one children's book published in the USSR in the '70s. This book has 5 traditional Russian & Slavic folk tales which has similarities with the more popular European ones, especially Grimm's Fairy Tales, yet distinct Russian elements. It also contains beautiful illustrations by the famous Russian artist Igor Yershov, and exquisite black & white borders in each page.

Like any other fairy tale, the stories are magical & transport the reader to another world. And they give a glimpse to the unique lifestyle of old Russia (I recently learnt from Tolstoy that it was common for the poor in Russia to sleep on top of stoves to keep warm! Igor's illustrations in Fire - Bird elaborated it visually.) The tales, despite being aimed for children perhaps, are not preachy or moralistic, and are unusually violent. And yet some good is rewarded & evil is punished, while often the protagonists themselves are grey.

Overall, the quaintness of the tales & the illustrations make this book worth reading. Personally I grew up reading Soviet children's books which were in abundance in India back then. So while this one's not the same book am looking for, it's from the same background & history, and hence goes straight into my personal collection.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite fairy tale book as a child. I gave mine away years ago, and now I'm on the hunt for a copy.

[WordWitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essentially my childhood. I have read and reread it so many times that I remember all the stories all too well. But you bet I'll still read it again.

The illustrations are one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen in my entire life and I absolutely love love loooove this collection of stories.

If you love fairytales, this small collection of Russian fairytales and folklores will not disappoint you!

[Linn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in a while it's nice to connect with Gaiman's inspiration.

[Amtul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of books my dad used to read to us. I liked this book so much he would read to it us many times. My favorite story was The Fire Bird.

[Katharina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russian fairytales are so strange and cool. Also now I desperately want to reread both Deathless and the Grisha trilogy.