Product Description

"Sew, Marushka! Weave, Marushka. Chop the wood! Milk the cows! Cut the hay and stack it -- Marushka!" The poor girl. No matter what she does or how hard she tries, Marushka can never please her cruel aunt and cousin. Determined to be rid of her, they give Marushka three impossible tasks. She must bring them fresh violets, strawberries, and apples _ in the dead of winter _ or be cast out of their home for good! Lost and freezing, Marushka is without hope. Then she meets the twelve months of the year seated around a fire on the mountaintop. With their kind help, the impossible becomes possible. Without it? Well . . . as Marushka_s greedy relatives are about to discover, that_s another story. Rafe Martin and Vladyana Langer Krykorka give this timeless Slavic tale a delightful new twist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1775924 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Released on: 2000-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 28 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Following his successful The Rough-Face Girl, a retelling of a Native-American Cinderella story, Rafe Martin introduces The Twelve Months, illus. by Vladyana Langer Krykorka, a Slavic Cinderella tale. Here there is no prince, but the 12 months play the part of the fairy godmother to Marushka, returning once a year to help celebrate the harvest. The artwork evokes the rustic setting and, as the 12 months work their magic, the illustrations light up with yellows and golds, and the characters' faces reveal wonderment.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Gr 1-5-A retelling of a Slavic folktale. Marushka, an orphan, does all the household tasks. No matter how hard she works, it is never enough to please her hard-hearted aunt and cousin. As the young woman finds pleasure in her burdensome work, her beauty increases. The jealous aunt and cousin plot to get rid of her, sending her off in the dead of winter, first to find violets, then strawberries, and then apples. Alone in the forest, Marushka climbs to the top of the mountain and discovers 12 men, representing the months of the year, seated around a fire. Sympathetic to her plight, January briefly changes places with the month that will enable her to complete her task. The author does not provide his sources for the tale or information on its roots or variants. This version ends with a surprise: the small dog that appears in the illustrations is the narrator of the story, a twist that seems unnecessary for the well-told folktale. The framed paintings with captions contribute to the traditional tone of the story. The bluish hues and curving, lacy bare branches are effective in creating a sense of the cold, mysterious world. A good addition to folktale collections.

Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. In this picture book for older children, the orphan Marushka lives with her aunt and cousin, who are envious of her sweet nature. They plot to rid themselves of her by requesting, in the dead of winter, that she bring them violets. On her quest, Marushka makes her way to the mountaintop, where she finds twelve men: three old, three middle-aged, three young, and three who are still boys. Warming herself by their fire, she tells them her plight. The men, who represent the twelve months, enable Marushka to bring violets (and later strawberries and apples) to her aunt and cousin. Of course, the venal relatives eventually want more, and they trundle off to the mountaintop, never to be heard from again. Krykorka contributes a series of dreamy illustrations (one facing each page of text), which are filled with the swirl of snow, wind, and branches and the movement of Marushka's streaming hair and suppliant gestures. This Slavic variant of the Cinderella story will please readers with its good-hearted heroine. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Very Nice Retelling of Russian Folk Tale
I'm a big fan of Rafe Martin and this is one of my favorite books he's written. The tale is somewhat like Cinderella without the prince. A mean aunt and cousin plot to do away with an orphan by making her do impossible tasks. The twelve months assist her in doing the impossible which enrages her relatives. This is a good book to do in the fall. It teaches the 12 months, seasons, apples and harvest time. I enjoy this book very much.