#841 of 1001 · November 19, 2022

Emerging from the wild woods, we will surely find ourselves bathed in the safety of hearth and home. To cap off this Week of Baba Yaga, let us marvel at the ferocious beauty that Marianna Mayer and Kinuko Y. Craft have rendered on the pages of their adaptation of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave. The book centers on a young girl plagued by misery. Vasilisa’s parents are both dead, and she lives at the mercy of her stepmother and stepsisters. The stepmother, envious of Vasilisa’s beauty, waits until their candle burns out one night and then sends the girl into the forest to bring back a new light from the house of Baba Yaga. The brave heroine must travel through the darkness, past riders of day, night, and sun, to the witch’s hut on chicken legs. Baba Yaga, impressed with Vasilisa’s fortitude does indeed give her in the light—in the form of a magical skull whose fiery eyes burn the stepmother and stepsisters to ashes. Mayer’s elegant text and Craft’s resplendent paintings do honor to the myth and mystery of Baba Yaga. A note for folklore enthusiasts: No one knows the exact provenance of Baba Yaga tales. Though the earliest reference to her name comes from the eighteenth century, some scholars theorize a connection to ancient Slavic gods. Whatever her origin, one thing is clear—the world will not soon forget the wonder and dark power of Baba Yaga. #witch #forest #woods #hut #doll #magic #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks