The Firebird: Picture Book
the classic Russian fairy tale retold by Jane Yolen
The Firebird is a children's picture book based on what is perhaps the most well-known of Russian fairy tales. Here it is retold for us by popular author Jane Yolen.
Story Synopsis
The book opens with the Old Russian version of "Once upon a time", which is the phrase "In a certain land, in a certain kingdom" and goes on to introduce us to the garden of the wizard Kostchei the Deathless. It was a beautiful garden with life-like statues. They were life-like because they were once living. The only living beings in the entire garden were a captive princess and her nine maidens; and unknown to Kostchei, the Firebird who would visit his garden.
Prince Ivan was lost. He had gone hunting and now he wandered into Kostchei’s forest. He was hungry and so when the Firebird flew by the Prince seized the opportunity and grabbed his tail. The Firebird pleaded for his release and promised the prince a magic gift. The prince accepted and was given a feather from the bird’s tail and the promise that if he were in need of help all he had to do was wave the feather and the Firebird would be there.
This is a fairytale so the Prince does, of course, succeed and gains some handsome rewards in the end. But to find out how he survives when other men were turned into statues, read the book.
History of the Book and of the Fairy Tale
Author Jane Yolen was fortunate to study and practice ballet at Balanchine’s School of American Ballet. While she was a student there, Maria Tallchief performed in Stravinsky’s ballet as the Firebird. Impressionable young Yolen was certain that it was a sign that she would too would one day dance the firebird when Tallchief hung her practice tutu on her locker. Clearly, Yolen’s life took a turn and she became a writer rather than a dancer. But her love of the ballet Firebird led her to write the story as a children’s book.
Kostchei the Deathless is a common character in Russian fairy tales where he is always the villain. The Firebird is another standard motif in Russian fairy tales. The Firebird is attributed with many different miraculous characteristics.
Prince Ivan is the typical Russian hero. He is handsome, strong, a hunter, and a lover of women. Igor Stravinsky who composed the Firebird describes the Ivan-type as “simple, naive, sometimes even stupid, devoid of all malice and...always victorious over characters that are clever, artful, complex, cruel, and powerful.
Illustration Quality
Vladimir Vagin’s illustrations for this book are painted in vivid tones and are quite compelling. Vagin skillfully draws us into both the story and the ballet by skillfully using a split illustration format. The bulk of the illustration, which appears above the text, illustrates the fairy tale itself. The illustrations below the text are a panoramic view of the story as enacted during the ballet.
Recommendation
The Firebird is an excellent way to introduce children to both the genre of Russian fairytales and the genre of ballet. The story has all the strengths of a good fairy tale and the illustrations will certainly encourage conversations between children and adults about the interactions between the pictures of the story and paintings of the dancer’s movements.
The Firebird, Illustrated by Vladimir Vagin. Retold by Jane Yolen (HarperCollins Publishers, 2002, ISBN 0-06-028538-9).
For another picture book base on a Russian fairytale, see The Language of Birds.
