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Stepka and the Magic Fire: A Russian Easter Legend
The charcoal-burners' fire brings new life to a poor Russian family on Easter eve.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 8, 2025
My wonderful son gave me this for Mother's Day, knowing I love old Russia and Easter. It is a delightful folk tale about generosity and what it means to be Christ-like. Beautiful, (although very 1970s) illustrations. If you are familiar with any kind of liturgical church (Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopal etc) you will enjoy the refrain "Christ is risen!" "He is risen indeed!" throughout the book.
I think most children will have the same question I did, "Why doesn't Stepka gather wood and make his own fire?" It's a mystery. I guess poor Stepka didn't have Boy Scouts or anyone else to teach him how to make a fire. Or perhaps all the wood is wet in spring? The text says he doesn't have any wood, so maybe all the wood is on other people's land and he's not allowed to gather it. We don't know, but I suspect this mystery is here on purpose. It is not for us to question people's poverty, but only to help them with what they ask for. That is certainly one of the lessons of this story.
Petty Nickpicking:
At the end of the story, the little village is called Stepkov. It says it becomes the most famous village "on the Don." The Don is a large river that flows from central Russia down to the Sea of Azov. But the only Stepkov I can find is a village in Czechia. So I must conclude the village is fictional. The illustration of a signpost at the end of the book is puzzling. It says "Stepkov 2km. Kiev 150km. Ursk 57km." Unless my map projection is way off, any village "on the Don" would be much closer to Kiev, Ukraine, than to Ursk in Siberia. But I am probably expecting too much of a picture book.
I think most children will have the same question I did, "Why doesn't Stepka gather wood and make his own fire?" It's a mystery. I guess poor Stepka didn't have Boy Scouts or anyone else to teach him how to make a fire. Or perhaps all the wood is wet in spring? The text says he doesn't have any wood, so maybe all the wood is on other people's land and he's not allowed to gather it. We don't know, but I suspect this mystery is here on purpose. It is not for us to question people's poverty, but only to help them with what they ask for. That is certainly one of the lessons of this story.
Petty Nickpicking:
At the end of the story, the little village is called Stepkov. It says it becomes the most famous village "on the Don." The Don is a large river that flows from central Russia down to the Sea of Azov. But the only Stepkov I can find is a village in Czechia. So I must conclude the village is fictional. The illustration of a signpost at the end of the book is puzzling. It says "Stepkov 2km. Kiev 150km. Ursk 57km." Unless my map projection is way off, any village "on the Don" would be much closer to Kiev, Ukraine, than to Ursk in Siberia. But I am probably expecting too much of a picture book.
March 30, 2014
Great to adapt for marionette use. Could be a new Easter show.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews