Genre 2 - Traditional Literature
"Read one folktale retold and/or illustrated in picture book format by Ashley Bryan, Yuyi Morales, Joseph Bruchac, or Jane Yolen"
Plot Summary
This version of a Russian folktale follows the adventures of Prince Ivan, lost in the woods surrounding the mythical garden of Kostchei the Deathless where the princess and her nine maids are held captive. As the Firebird flies past, the starving Prince Ivan captures the mythical beast. In exchange for its release, the Firebird grants Prince Ivan the gift of a feather which can be used to summon the Firebird's assistance. After it is released, Prince Ivan chases the bird through the forest to the fenced edge of Kostchei's garden. Knowing that a fence indicates a house is near, Ivan enters and finds the ten maids in the house. Warned that Kostchei turns anyone who tries to rescue them to stone statues, Ivan remains in the garden and awaits the arrival of Kostchei's demons. During the battle, Prince Ivan is nearly defeated until he remembers the warm feather he is carrying and uses it to defeat the demons and summon the Firebird who brings him a sword which he uses to kill Kostchei. The statues turn back into men, and Prince Ivan is married to the princess to live happily ever after.Critical Analysis
This version of the Firebird tale is a beautiful picture book based on the ballet by Balanchine based on the suite by Stravinsky based on the Russian folklore. Vagin's brightly colored illustrations portray the folklore on the top three-fourths of the page, and the choreography of the ballet scene on stage below. Through this multi-layered approach to the folklore, portrayed both in the text and the illustrations, the reader simultaneously experiences the traditional folklore and artistic style of Russia and the ballet performance by Maria Tallchief and the New York City Ballet of Balanchine's choreography from 1949.Because this story was based on the ballet, based on the musical suite, based on the folklore, the folklore here is far from the traditional stories of Kostchei or the Firebird. In this version, Kostchei is easily killed with a sword, but in folklore he can not be killed by such conventional methods; instead, one must find the object within which his soul is stored and destroy that object. This plot mechanism has most recently been seen in popular culture within the tale of Harry Potter and Voldemort's creation of horcruxes to store his soul so he can not be killed.
Connections
- Explore the many layers of this story by incorporating books on any of the many aspects, for example, the ballerina Maria Tallchief who was the inspiration for this retelling.
Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina
by Maria Tallchief and Rosemary Wells
- Combine with other versions of the tale and explore the similarities and differences of the tale and characters
The Tale of The Firebird
by Gennady Spirin
The Firebird and other Russian Fairy Talesedited by Jacqueline Onassis
- For a teen or adult audience, compare with Firebird
by Mercedes Lackey, which is also a book based on the ballet based on the suite by Stravinsky based on the Russian folklore.
Awards/Reviews
From Publishers Weekly:This gracefully structured picture book introduces readers to the famous Firebird ballet (choreographed by George Balanchine to Igor Stravinsky's music) and the Russian folklore that inspired it. . . Yolen (How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?) crafts her well-paced tale from a variety of sources (listed in an author's note), including her own childhood memory of seeing Firebird danced by Maria Tallchief in 1949. Employing a design that is both stylish and informative, Vagin (The King's Equal) depicts a ballet performance in a panel that runs across the lower portion of each page, while the larger, top portion of the pages contain his dramatic interpretation of the story. From the brilliant, red-plumed Firebird to the sumptuously decorated house of the wizard, Vagin's crisply rendered paintings evoke czarist Russia. The elegant costumes and poses in his ballet scenes may well leave many readers eager to view a live performance.From School Library Journal:
A well-known character in Russian folklore, the fierce and beautiful Firebird, is also featured in the ballet, set to the music of Igor Stravinsky. It is the ballet version of the story that Yolen and Vagin present in this richly hued picture book. . . The text makes the story clear and exciting, faltering slightly at the rhymed incantations: "Wave the feather in the air- Firebird will be right there." Yolen has based her telling on George Balanchine's choreography, which varies slightly from other versions. The Fokine version, found in Louis Untermeyer's Tales from the Ballet (Golden Press, 1968; o.p.), adds a magical egg holding the powers of Kostchei. The illustrations are especially useful in explicating the ballet. In the large painting at the top of each spread, the action is played out in the forest by the hero, villain, and bird. In the long, narrow artwork below the text, the scene on stage is shown, with costumed dancers portraying the Firebird and demons. Even the pit orchestra is given a scene in the beginning. Not to be confused with two stunningly illustrated titles of different folktales, Demi's The Firebird (Holt, 1994; o.p.) and Ruth Sanderson's The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring (Little, Brown, 2001), Yolen's Firebird will be most appreciated as an introduction to the ballet.-Ellen Heath, Orchard School, Ridgewood, NJFrom The Horn Book:
Yolen uses quiet humor and well-chosen descriptors to retell the story of the ballet based on the Russian tale in which the magic Firebird rescues a prince from an evil wizard. Vagin's colorful, detailed illustrations portray the action of the story, while artwork along the bottom of each spread follows the ballet from the overture to the final pas de deux. An author's note on the folktale and the ballet includes sources.From Booklist:
Past picture-book retellings of this famous Russian story have mostly followed either the plot of the original folktale or of the Balanchine-Stravinsky ballet. Yolen's version, explained in a personal note, combines elements of both. . . Yolen offers a dramatic story in language that's spare, immediate, and sprinkled with folksy phrases. It's Vagin's sparkling, gem-colored illustrations that really show the story's two traditions together in split spreads of a fairy-tale world above and ballet scenes drawn below. The result is effective and thought-provoking, much like Loriot's Peter and the Wolf (1986), where Jorg Muller's insets of the orchestra are drawn alongside the story's scenes. Children may want to listen to Stravinsky's music as they pore over the images in this innovative interpretation of a classic tale. Gillian Engberg.
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