Russian Fairy Tales (Everyman's Library CHILDREN'S CLASSICS)

I bought this for myself but ended up giving it to my niece for xmas. She loved it. I am waiting for her to finish so I can borrow it. Such beautiful illustrations and so well bound.

Love the tables and the illustrations, and the hardback version.

Ok

I agree with everything M. Lawton says about Bilibin. The only way to get fairly good printsof his work is to order them from Russia, which Waterstone's Russian dept. can help with.I think he outshines many of the illustrators of his time, Russian and otherwise.I have some fairy tales from Russia with his illustrations which are superb - perfect paper, perfect print.

Buying this is such a no-brainer. You get a beautifully produced hardback book for not a lot of money. You get a cracking selection of stories retold by a contemporary story teller - not some reprint of an antiquated Victorian book. And on top of that you get loads of Bilibin illustrations.Why this man is not a household name on a par with Dulac or Rackham is one of the mysteries of our time. His work is stunning and if the colours and printing in this edition are not of the highest quality, well you just have to live with it. Personally it didn't spoil my enjoyment. In any case, the fact is there are no modern Bilibin books on the market and the only other way you'll get to see his work is by throwing large wads of cash at rare book sellers.

I'm so happy that I bought this book despite not very good reviews. The illustrations are fantastic, the quality of the paper and binding are at very good standards indeed. It made a lovely present to someone who appreciates Bilibin and Russian fairy tales.

I developed a hankering to read a few Russian fairy tales as I had never heard any before, so I bought this book to see what they were like.The book is beautifully bound and presented with some exceptional illustrations within. Given the cost, I was very impressed with the quality of the Hardback.The books were fun and as you would expect for fairy tales and I Learned a few things about Russia I was not aware of! Finally, and I am unsure if this is because of this modern PC / anti-male brainwashing we are receiving from western culture, but I noticed some glaring issues.Not something a kid would notice but certainly an adult.So firstly, I learned that all families of Princes in Russia have at least one Ivan amongst them, and he is usually the fool that makes it good. They didn’t do so well with Ivan the Terrible, alas.Next, I learned that Baba Yaga is a species/type of witch, not an individual as I thought. The book contains a few stories of different Baba Yaga`s.As for the downside, Princess always falls in love after being captured. If there are three Princes, then two are wrong uns but more than that….The idea that woman fall in love and serve the man, especially when he is stupid. The idea that everything you want you can have easily and so forth all seems more than a little idiotic.Don’t read Russian Fairy Tales, instead read Finish or Nordic stories; they are much darker.But if I was a kid, I am sure I would enjoy them.

It is tragic that such beautiful illustrations have been given such desperately poor treatment.I have been unable to find another book with Bilibin's illustrations in it, and suspected that this edition would be a worthy exhibition of his work. However, the colours are dull, the pictures unclear, and the printing poor- all of them appear with white flecks on them, where the printing has just gone plain wrong, and the paper upon which they are reproduced just isnt up to the task of presenting such detailed and sharp images.Many of the other editions in the Everyman's Library are beautiful, and it IS nice to see well bound editions, but they have really let themselves, and Bilibin down horribly on this one.

I bought this for my boyfriend, he adored it. It also came early, which is even better!!!

Nice hardbound book....Love it

Has lots of stories. Perfect. Nice pictures

Fabric hardcover books that are perfect for any library. Will be cherish for many years to come: just as the stories in them are.