The Black Geese : A Baba Yaga Folk Tale from Russia

by Alison Lurie

Baba Yaga's black geese steal children--everyone in the village fears them. So when young Elena discovers that her baby brother is missing, she knows she must rescue him from the evil Baba Yaga's forest lair. On her way, she runs across a fish out of water, gasping. Though she is in a great hurry, she helps it back into the pond. "As you have helped me, so I shall help you," said the fish. "Here, take this shell. If ever you are in danger, throw it over your shoulder." As she hurries along, she releases a squirrel from a trap, who gratefully gives her a danger-preventing walnut. When she later helps a field mouse move a rock, he gives her a danger-preventing pebble. At last she reaches Baba Yaga's foul hut, "which stands on three giant hens' legs and can move around when it likes." Baba Yaga is asleep inside, right next to her baby brother! She picks up her brother, and runs into the forest, with the terrible witch hot on her heels. Remembering her magical gifts from the forest creatures, she throws the shell behind her. A lake appears! But Baba Yaga drinks it in great thirsty gulps and is back on her trail. When Elena throws the walnut over her shoulder, a thick grove of trees appears! But Baba Yaga chews the trees down with her sharp teeth. When Elena throws the pebble, a mountain looms large, and Baba Yaga is at last stopped in her tracks. "As for Elena, she went on to her village and was safe at home playing with her little brother when her father and mother got back from the market with the sugar buns." Jessica Souhami's lively, geometric collages--inspired by Russian folk art--express action and emotion with the simplest of forms. Children will be on the edge of their seats as Elena tries to rescue her baby brother and is chased by the evil witch... and visibly relieved when they both make it home safe and sound. And who knows? The next time they see a fish or a squirrel in need, they may pause to help. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Folklore, Russia

32 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2000

About the author

Alison Stewart Lurie was an American novelist and academic. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel Foreign Affairs. Although better known as a novelist, she wrote many non-fiction books and articles, particularly on children's literature and the semiotics of dress.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch your baby brother, mother directs as she and father leave for the market. Baba Yaga's black baby-stealing geese have been seen nearby. (With openings like this I always wonder if the parents are really hoping to get rid of their brats, or why leave them to get into trouble?)

Of course little Elena doesn't watch carefully enough, she wants to play with her friends. The geese steal the baby, big surprise. Luckily, Elena is a kind girl if not one with a long attention span and she is rewarded for helping various animals in peril.

The author's note says this is based partially on Aleksandr Afanasyev's "Magic Swan-Geese" with which I am unfamiliar, but it certainly has some heavy borrowing from other stories I do know, most obviously Petronella. And of course other Baba Yaga stories about brave girls. Although usually in the Russian stories I know the heroines are more obedient to their mothers...

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent enough retelling of a classic folk/fairy tale the moral of which is "do good deeds, and you will be rewarded." The cut-paper illustrations are unusual.

I could swear I've read a version of this where the villain is a giant or ogre, and NOT Baba Yaga, but can't think of the title.

Damn you, old age! Stealin' all my brain stuff . . .

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only an average retelling. Primitive pictures don't do the story justice.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm all about Baba Yaga stories, and this one certainly satisfied.  A retelling of a classic Baba Yaga tale, Lurie and Souhami do a fantastic job of making this tale accessible to little ones.  This picturebook invokes classic fairy and folktale motifs, such as the power of three and talking animals.  The Black Geese overall make for an entertaining story rife with cultural symbols.

Review cross-listed here!

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good job, kiddo; home before your parents know you messed up

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuties Storytime: Folktales and Fairytales

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elena must rescue her baby brother from Baba Yaga.

This is a picture book retelling of a classic Baba Yaga folktale, and Baba Yaga is at her fierce cannibal best. Elena is supposed to be watching her baby brother but neglects her duty, allowing him to be abducted by Baba Yaga's black geese that carry him off to her hut on chicken legs.

Following the geese, Elena encounters several animals that she stops to help. In return they give her a magical object that will help her in her time of need. Elena finds her brother and attempts to steal off with him, but Baba Yaga gives chase. Elena throws one item after the other over her shoulder, eventually thwarting the vengeful witch and returning home with her brother.

The illustrations are folksy paper collages.

[Marina Minina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is based on the same variant of tale about Baba Yaga as the previous one, Baba Yaga’s Geese. A girl is seeking her little brother who is taken away by Baba Yaga’s geese. Here children should compare the two stories and find the differences. For example, this tale is shorter; it has a squirrel who gives her walnut, different names of characters and so on. As for illustrations, they are awful, in my opinion. They are not authentic except some elements on the clothes of the main character, Elena.

[Megan (ReadingRover) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you’re parents tell you to stay at home and watch your brother that’s what you should do or else Baba Yaga’s black geese will come and take him away. That’s exactly what happens to Elena’s brother when she leaves him unattended to play with her friends. This book is a classic retelling of the Baba Yaga story. Pretty standard. The illustrations are interesting layered paper collage which give the book a folkish feel.