The Month-Brothers : A Slavic Tale

Reality gives way to enchantment in the mountains of Bohemia one blustery January night when a little girl is ordered to find snowdrops by her cruel stepmother. The child knows that these delicate spring flowers do not grow in the middle of the winter, but what else can she do but obey? In the frozen woods she comes upon twelve magical brothers who make the impossible happen.

This charming story about a little girl who sees all the twelve months of the year at once is a retelling of a traditional Czechoslovakian folktale by Samuel Marshak, one of Russia's greatest folklorists. The lyricism of Marshak's language is retained in this sensitive rendering by the distinguished translator Thomas P. Whitney.

Diane Stanley's dazzling watercolor illustrations enhance the telling. The opulence of her patterned textures, the intricacy of her decorative details capture the flavor of long-ago Bohemia while at the same time transforming the landscape into a world of fantasy in which flowers can indeed bloom in wintertime. This exquisite picture book will enchant readers for many years to come.

Diane Stanley lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and frequent collaborator, Peter Vennema, and their son, John.

Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of beloved books for young readers, including The Silver Bowl, which was named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and Book Links Lasting Connections and was an ALA Booklist Editors' Choice; The Cup and the Crown; The Princess of Cortova; Saving Sky, winner of the Arab American National Museum's Arab American Book Award and a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year; Bella at Midnight, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Booklist Editors' Choice; The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy; The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine; and A Time Apart. She is also well known as the author and illustrator of award-winning picture book biographies.

Ms. Stanley has also written and illustrated numerous picture books, including three creatively reimagined fairy tales: The Giant and the Beanstalk, Goldie and the Three Bears, and Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.