The Firebird - Hardcover

Yolen, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060285389 ISBN 13: 9780060285388

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 2002

Synopsis

A well-known ballet is presented to young readers as Prince Ivan, with the help of the Firebird, must win great battles to save the lives of ten maidens held captive by the evil wizard Kostchei the Deathless.

About this title

About the Author:

Jane Yolen is one of the acknowledged masters of fantasy today. She is the author of more than two hundred books for children and adults. Her young adult novel The Devil's Arhtmetic won the Jewish Book Council Award. Her children's book Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr, was awarded the Caldecott Medal; her fantasy novels Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna were both short-listed for the Nebula; and she's won the Nebula twice for short stories. She has also won the World Fantasy Award, the Christopher Medal twice, and the Golden Kite Award. She has written two previous books in the Young Heroes series with Robert J. Harris, Odysseus in the Serpent Maze and Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons. Jane Yolen lives with her husband in western Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 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
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060285389
• ISBN 13: 9780060285388
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Vagin Vladimir Vasilevich