Russian Fairy Tales: Palekh Painting

by Alexei Orleansky, Paul Williams (Translator)

"The present publication of Russian folk tales is a remarkable example of this interesting facet of Russian art. The illustrations are by Alexei Orleansky, a painter of the Palekh school. Working with a variety of materials, in 1999 he produced a series of original miniatures illustrating traditional stories. I am sure that his iridescent Fire-Bird colors will bring joy to many readers, young and old." (Abram Raskin, art scholar). The best fairytales from the treasure chest of world literature, accompanied by illustrations by the master of Palekh painting. By the Wave of a Wind, The Turnip, The Golden Combed Rooster, Prince Ivan and the Grey Wolf, Masha and the Bear, Kolobok, Flying Ship, Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka, Jack Frost, Geese-Swans, The Princess Frog, Sea King, and more.

In English.

Genres: Fiction, Picture Books, Russia, Short Stories

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Timilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading all the tales of all the folk. And noticing all thr similarities and gospel messages. Sharpening my eyesight.

[Cam 💕🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relire ce recueil de contes m’a rendue nostalgique du temps où je les lisais quand j’étais petite, mais ce n’est définitivement plus à mon goût. Néanmoins certains contes ont une belle morale, c’est intéressant de voir un peu le folklore et les mythes d’autres pays et les illustrations sont sublimes. Je ne le relirais sûrement plus mais je vais le garder et peut-être qu’un jour je le lirais à mes hypothétiques enfants comme histoire du soir 🥰

[Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a nutshell, don't bother.

Whoever wrote the text for this book is the kind of person who could have written the The Lord of the Rings as 'An evil lord wanted to control the world. Two little people destroyed his strongest weapon. A few thousand other people distracted him while they got on with it.' I mean, YEAH that's what happened but my god, are these tales bare bones. The authors manage to summarise the early years of the Soviet Union - kind of an eventful time period - as that time 'when it became clear that icons could no longer be produced or sold' for goodness' sake. And the stories themselves do not suit an anthology as they are so incredibly similar as to also be incredibly dull. There are about a million 'Ivan Tsarevich's; groups of three brothers; people who crawl in an animal's left ear and out the right and weddings involving Yelena the Beautiful or Vasilisa the Wise and Baba Yaga eats people so regularly she must be the size of a drumstick-legged house.

These are not stories to be devoured and delighted in. The book is more about the paintings, although as it is not a style I'm particularly enamoured with and indeed there are not all that may pictures, they are not much of a highlight for me.

[Cat Carstairs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to pick up this book from the library last time I was there, and I am glad that I did! This is a collection of traditional Russian fairy tales, not unlike the ones popular in America. In the past few months, I've taken an interest in learning the Russian culture and language, and this was a great help in getting a sense of their background. Although, some of these tales probably shouldn't be read as a bedtime stories to young children, as some of them deal with darker topics. In contrast to Aesop's fables, not many of these stories had any determinable moral, but that is why I enjoyed some of them the way that I did. I was so interested to read the references to the Russian witch, Bába-Yagá, and I thought they were hilarious! The artwork presented throughout this book, a traditional technique called palekh, was fascinating. All in all, I am happy that I picked this one up.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite childhood books and is responsible for my interest in Russian mythology, but it's certainly not as good as I remember. The art is vivid, and the stories themselves are fascinating, but the writing style is didactic and flat, as is too common with most mythological anthologies. As a result, it ends up taking away from the magical atmosphere of the tales.

[Evie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a few instances where women are manipulated by men for their own gains, and without any kind of protest. More a book about the art than the story, though I understand how difficult it is to translate and preserve meaning. They're just flat.

[Elizabeth Barter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in a while, you return to some of your favourite fairytales from when you were a child. When you have been mourning someone or feeling alone , these stories give a person some comfort. I love folklore and fantasy, so this afternoon I set down to reread some of my favourite Russian stories . It was a good way to spend an afternoon.

[Marbeth Skwarczynski · Rating 3 out of 5]

The iconic artwork is what saves this book. The text, on the other hand is nearly impossible to read. Most of the stories chosen are good, but others are too similar in plot and tone so the collection becomes repetative.

[Jagdish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book for children to read. The paintings remind me of the Russia I had known. The churches, the snowwhite winters, the frozen rivers, the shortest summers, the midnight sun, the christmas snows ...

A must-read for the toddlers. A gateway to magical lands of fairytales.

[Ant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and quirky book. Recommended if you are drawn to what it says on the cover!

[Lisette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful Palekh painting illustrations to accompany the book. I’m not sure if it’s the English translation though, but the stories themselves are rather abrupt in how they are written!

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love fairytales. I love Russian lacquer painting. But somehow this book is only a 3½ stars good, not 4 stars great. In general, while I like Palekh style, I prefer Kholui. But putting any deficiencies in the illustrations aside, I think I am primarily bothered by the text. These versions are slightly bare bones and without the elaborations & embellishments I find so entertaining. Many points however for giving lots of uncommon stories - it's appreciated.

[alicebme · Rating 2 out of 5]

6. Personal Response: I read these to my 4 year old at bedtime each night for a couple of weeks. He was comforted by the lull of words at first, but one night he began actually connecting my words with the paintings on the page and he freaked out. The stories weren’t particularly gory or scary, but wolves and bears are not friendly bedtime story characters, I guess. :-)[return]7. Connections: This would be best used in an examination of art used in fairy tale anthologies. It is remarkable. Also, there are stories that have English counterparts and could thus be compared.