Baba Yaga & the Little Girl

My Mother read me this story around the age of 5 and after just one reading I was hooked. I requested she read it to me nightly for a long time! My Mother did the voices of the characters so great! As I got older, I read it on my own and I wore out the story, reading it countless times. As an adult, I still love the story because it is magical, suspenseful and just a little bit scary but not too much for a child.This is a wonderful story with many morals. It TEACHES a child RESPECT for elders (definitely always an issue in the world today) and when unsure what to do, to go GET ADVICE FROM SOMEONE YOU TRUST before acting and to LISTEN to that wise advice VERY CAREFULLY. This book teaches a child to be COURAGEOUS and use wise advice along with her WITS, INSTINCTS and HEART to get out of perilous situations. The Russian illustrations are very different than a typical American book; which I find very refreshing. It has vibrant primary colors and lots of black outlines to set the pictures off. Also the layout of pictures within the story is sheer genius.The girl was badly mistreated by her stepmother but yet was kind and gentle, not letting it effect her personality. This is the moral from the book I appreciate the most. REMINDS ME OF A WISE SAYING:"YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE SITUATION BUT YOU CAN CONTROL HOW YOU REACT TO IT." Children should be taught this truth from birth!This is a great book! I highly recommend it. You may have to settle for one of the books in print right now but this one is the classic one to me--if you can get it, I think you will be very pleased.