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Title: Babushka Baba Yaga
ISBN: 069811633X
Author:
Patricia Polacco
Publicate Date: 1999-01-25
Publish: 1999-01-25
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.19
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.94
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Love this Book!
I LOVE this book. The first time I read iot aloud to my daughter, I actually had to stop because I was so choked up, I could not continue. When trying to retell it from memory, I cried and could not continue. All the crying aside, it is a wonderful book that shows the other side of things, and that things may not always be as they seem.
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2: A Favorite
From the minute I begin reading this book to my third grade students, they are mesmerized...and this one has to be their favorite Polacco story. They even love the sound of the title! What I love about Patricia Polacco's books--and this one is no exception--is that they deliver such powerful messages of love. Kids really feel how sad and lonely Baba Yaga must've been and how the love of a child brought her such joy. They understand how it feels to be hurt by ugly, unkind words and ultimately rejoice with Baba Yaga when the villagers learn the wisdom of judging with the heart rather than just the eyes.
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3: An Ogre-Witch for a "Grandmother"? Who Would have Thought!
If you are a sort of ogre-witch who creeps about in the dark forest, lives in a small strange hut, has large really-pointed ears, claw-like hands, chicken-skinny legs, special powers to change to almost-human like, and (at one time) probably loved to feast on little children--especially bad ones--but no longer do, would you dare to come out of the forest where you and your kind have lived forever, and pretend to be a regular sweet grandmother (a Babushka)?
Why would you? Well, you are very lonely; the very, very last Baba Yaga creature in your forest. You want friends; you want others to like and not fear you any more; you want love and you want to give love, too. Should anyone trust you? (Remember, you CAN change back to that fearsome forest creature, which you still are inside!) Can you babysit young children, who you love the very most? Can you be accepted by these non-Baba Yagas who would fear you if they only knew...?
Well, in this story you will read about a Baba Yaga (old "woman") who tricks the women of a village--after stealing some human clothes to disguise what she really is--and becomes a newly-arrived babysitter "grandmother." She loves loving children now and hopes to continue in this wonderful life forever. But before long something happens that sends Baba Yaga back to the forest to continue in her old ways. And surprisingly quickly another event brings her back out of the forest. This time she does not hide what she really is. Somehow, though, everything works out for good with the villagers. How can this happen? (They now know what she is.) Read why this Baba Yaga is no longer feared, but should she be? Will you agree with the villagers? (Anyhow, if you love interesting and colorful pictures, you will want to hug those in this book!)
[A Russian folk tale. Interest level: K-4 (and all the rest of us). Independent reading level: grades 3-4. But this is a superb read-aloud. See how to use it and other picture books in A NON-WORKBOOK, NON-TEXTBOOK APPROACH TO TEACHING LANGUAGE ARTS, available on Amazon.]
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4: Wonderful endearing read
This is a wonderful story, that actually brought tears to my eyes when reading it to my 4 year old daughter. The story is written with much emotion and love and it comes through the text and illustration. Truly beautiful story with meaning. I love books that promote discussion with my daughter, she loved the story so much she even made her Dad read it.
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5: Who's afraid of the big bad babushka?
Authors (especially authors of children's books) love reinterpreting old folk and fairy tales. From "The Stinky Cheese Man" to "East", children are constantly being exposed to a wide variety of new ways of reading and interpreting the tales they heard when younger. Patricia Polacco is to be commended for her particularly original reinterpretation. Some of you may be familiar with the classic Baba Yaga stories that came out of Russia. These stories centered on an evil old woman who lived in a house that stood on chicken legs. Usually portrayed as a wicked witch, Baba Yaga ate children and cavorted with the darkest of magics. In "Babushka Baba Yaga", Polacco reclaims a newly misunderstood icon.
Unlike the stories, the Baba Yaga in this tale is the last of her kind. Terribly lonely in her forest home, she spends the days enviously spying on the grandmothers (or "babushkas") of the nearby village. There is nothing Baba Yaga would like more than to care for a little young creature of her own. One day she has the idea of borrowing some babushka clothing and arriving in the village as an old woman. It isn't long before she meets Natasha and her little son Victor. Victor has no babushka of his own, and Baba Yaga offers to take care of the boy, cook, and clean in exhange for a bed and some food. Things go swimmingly for quite a while. Then, one day, Victor and his new babushka overhear a chilling Baba Yaga tale and the boy is greatly scared. Not wanting to cause any trouble, Baba Yaga leaves the happy home with great sorrow. It's only through a miraculous rescue and the villagers' acceptance that things are finally put to rights at the end.
The moral of the story is spoken by one of the village women at the book's finish. "Those who judge one another on what they hear or see, and not on what they know of them in their hearts, are fools indeed!" I especially ask that you consider the book's final picture. There, Baba Yaga hugs a happy Victor, his chubby hands clutching her and wiping his face. Polacco has always excelled at books that make adult readers cry. I have no doubts at all that this story falls squarely into that category. After all, this is a tale about gaining the love of little children, regardless of age or background. The text is especially clever and is well accompanied by Polacco's clever illustrations. If you're not partial to Polacco pictures then I'm certain you won't much care for this book. If, on the other hand, you are charmed by her sometimes slapdash sometimes intricately shaded pictures you'll be in seventh heaven. Faces are her forte, and in the book Baba Yaga is lined and creased, as are the faces of all the older women in the village. There is tenderness found in these people, and it comes as much from their actions as from their gently rounded cheeks.
"Babushka Baba Yaga" embraces the idea of the "true" Baba Yaga. When reading scary folktales, consider adding this book to your repertoire. It successfully combines the old and the young with the ancient and the post-modern. A delightful enjoyable story, easily read again and again.
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