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The Tale of Tsar Saltan

Alexander Pushkin,

Gennady Spirin (Illustrator)

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Dec 31, 2010 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fairy-tales-folktales, read-in-2010, russian-books

I have read many Russian folktales in my time, but never have I read a Russian folktale that had truly gorgeous illustrations and a heartwarming story! “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is a Russian folktale by Alexander Pushkin along with illustrations by Gennady Spirin and it is about how a young prince named Prince Guidon is separated from his father Tsar Saltan, after a terrible plot was formed by his mother’s jealous sisters and the Tsar’s cruel cousin. “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is definitely a boo I have read many Russian folktales in my time, but never have I read a Russian folktale that had truly gorgeous illustrations and a heartwarming story! “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is a Russian folktale by Alexander Pushkin along with illustrations by Gennady Spirin and it is about how a young prince named Prince Guidon is separated from his father Tsar Saltan, after a terrible plot was formed by his mother’s jealous sisters and the Tsar’s cruel cousin. “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is definitely a book worthy to check out for fans of different types of folklore!

Once there lived three sisters who each talked about marrying the Tsar. While the first sister wanted to cook for everyone and the second sister wanted to spin the best linen for everyone when they married the Tsar, the youngest sister said that when she marries the Tsar, she wants to have a son who is brave and strong. When Tsar Saltan heard what the youngest sister said, he decided to marry the youngest sister, much to the jealousy of the two other sisters. One day however after the tsarina gave birth to a baby boy, a war broke out and Tsar Saltan had to go to war. While the Tsar was gone, the tsarina’s two sisters and the Tsar’s evil cousin decided to plot against the young tsarina.

Oh my goodness! When I have seen so many good ratings on this book, I just had to check this book out and see what was so great about this book. Now I know why this book was so well received! Alexander Pushkin had done an excellent job at writing this lovable Russian folktale as the story is heartwarming and interesting at the same time. I loved the way that Alexander Pushkin portrayed each character in this book, especially Tsar Saltan as he is shown as a kind and lovable father who was a victim in the two sisters’ and his evil cousin’s scheming against the tsarina and I actually felt sorry for him that the lost his son and his wife and he never really knew what became of his son and wife, even though the audience knows what happened to his family. Many parents and children will also feel sympathy for Tsar Saltan, especially if any parent knows what it is like to lose a child and it is indeed a heartbreaking situation for anyone to be in. I was extremely interested in knowing that this story has similar elements to two stories from the Brothers Grimm collection which are “The Three Little Birds” and “The Maiden without Hands” as they both involved the main characters losing their child to jealousy and evil. Gennady Spirin’s illustrations are the true highlights of this book as they are simply beautiful and memorable. Gennady Spirin’s illustrations are reminiscent of the paintings from the Renaissance Era as the drawings are elegant and characters look realistic that they make the story truly beautiful. I also loved the images of the Russian clothing that the characters wear as they are extremely colorful and gorgeous and they truly bring out the Russian influence of the story. What I really loved about this book was the way that the book had two pages full of only text and then the next two pages are full of only illustrations of the story, which is quite a creative way to express this story.

All in all, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is truly a brilliant and amazing book about the power of love for your family and anyone who is a huge fan of Russian folktales will definitely enjoy this book easily! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the length of this book might be a bit too long for smaller children.
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10 likes · Like · see review

Dec 05, 2009 Pavel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childhood-reads, classics, poems

Jan 02, 2010 Juliana Philippa marked it as to-read

Sep 13, 2011 Anna Kļaviņa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fairy-tales-myths, poems-poetry, read-in-2011, classic, children, fantasy, russian, rakstnieks

Feb 07, 2013 Xiri marked it as to-read

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