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Summary
Summary
"In a certain land, in a certain kingdom -- as they say in old Russia -- on the far side of a certain tangled wood, a garden shimmered like a green jewel....
Inside that jewellike garden, an evil wizard named Kostchei the Deathless holds a princess and her nine maidens captive, turning all those who attempt to save them to stone. But help is nearby -- Prince Ivan searching the nearby tangled wood for food, finds the young women and vows to save them. And with some help from the powerful and mischievous Firebird, as well as with much true courage from within, Prince Ivan will slay a horde of demons and Kostchei himself in order to free the damsels.
Jane Yolen's rich, mystical narrative is based on both the well-known Russian folktale and the famous Balanchine/Stravinsky ballet. Enhancing that theme, Vladimir Vagin has created exquisite paintings with a double focus: The folktale takes center stage, while intricate vignettes of the ballet serve as a border. The result is a seamlessly woven multilayered tapestry of story and art that will make this book a treasure for ballet lovers new and old.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-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. Young Prince Ivan is hunting near the castle of the terrible demon Kostchei when he captures Firebird. In exchange for its freedom, the bird gives Ivan one of its feathers, which eventually helps him to defeat the demon and marry the beautiful princess imprisoned in the castle. 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, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
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. Accomplished hunter Prince Ivan becomes lost in a strange, tangled wood where the only living creature is the magnificent Firebird, which he snares. In exchange for her life, the magical bird offers Prince Ivan one of her glorious feathers and a pledge of help if ever he should call upon her. The feather and Firebird serve Prince Ivan well when he battles evil wizard Kostchei the Deathless and frees the maidens imprisoned in Kostchei's garden. 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. Ages 3-6. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
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 HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The Firebird is a character in several Russian folktales as well as the title character in the famous ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Stravinsky. Yolen (Wild Wings: Poems for Young People, p. 349, etc.) combines these intertwined story strands to create a dual story of the folktale and the ballet. The design uses the folktale text and accompanying illustrations in the upper three-quarters of the pages, with a narrower segment of illustrations across the bottom quarter showing illustrations of the related story from the ballet. Prince Ivan is the hero of the tale, and with the help of the Firebird, he kills Kostchei the Deathless, also called the wizard of darkness, and his demons (scary black creatures with horns, tails, and cloven hooves). Kostchei is a fearsome fellow himself, with red eyes, pointed teeth, and nine-inch nails, and his death frees ten beautiful maidens and handsome young men from an evil spell so they can dance in joy and live happily ever after, of course. Yolen's tale is, as always, professionally and smoothly told, with the polished cadences of an authentic folktale. Highly detailed illustrations capture the Firebird's vibrant feathers, the ornate Russian costumes, and the fearful appearances of the wizard and demons. The double set of illustrations is somewhat detrimental to the folk tale, but will serve well as an introduction to the ballet. (author's note, bibliography) (Folktale. 5-8)
Booklist Review
Ages 4-8. 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. Armed with a magic feather from the Firebird, Prince Ivan battles goblins and evil wizard Kostchei in the enchanted garden and wins the love of the beautiful, captured princess. 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.