#418 of 1001 · September 22, 2021

There’s a flavorful blend of fantasy, danger, and humor in Salt, a Russian folktale retold by Jane Langton from a translation by Alice Plume and illustrated by Ilse Plume. Ivan is regarded as a fool by all those around him—not least his merchant father, who provides Ivan’s two older brothers with valuable goods to sell abroad but sends Ivan off with only a boatload of wooden spoons. After discovering a marvelous mountain of salt on an island in the middle of the ocean, the young man successfully trades with a foreign tsar for great riches and the hand of his daughter in marriage. However, when his envious brothers betray him, he must enlist the aid of an enormous giant to reach home and reclaim both his fortune and his bride. Langton’s narrative voice and Plume’s jocund watercolor drawings pair delightfully in service of a compelling and enjoyable adventure. A note for folklore enthusiasts: on the title page, the author lists the source of this tale as Narodnye Russkie Skazki by Aleksandr Afanas’ev. #salt #ship #ships #island #mountain #giant #russia #russian #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks