The Twelve Months

"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 Marushkas greedy relatives are about to discover, thats another story.
Rafe Martin and Vladyana Langer Krykorka give this timeless Slavic tale a delightful new twist.

Rafe Martin is the author of over 20 books and the recipient of three American Library Association Notable Book Awards, Four Parent's Choice Gold Awards, two Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Awards, an American Folklore Society Aesop's Accolade Award, several American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists," an IRA Teacher's Choice Award and many other awards of Distinction. Rafe has a Master's degree in English literature from the University of Toronto.
Vladyana was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic. After graduating from Art High School, she studied Architecture at University of Prague. In 1968 she came to Canada and has lived in Toronto ever since. She has received extensive praise and many honours: winner of the Ruth Schwartz Award, named a Canadian Library Association Notable Book, short-listed for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibson Award for Book Illustration and included on the AEZOP Accolade List.