I would second this suggestion. I've seen a copy of the book and the
illustrations by Genadij Spirin are amazing. My friend's 7 year-old
loves it (and it wasn't even me who gave it to her -- it was her
grandfather who has no affiliation with anything Russian or Slavic, but
has a nose for good children's books, no pun intended).
There are also, I believe, skazki that have been slightly altered from
the original Russian version to suit an English-speaking audience:
• Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave - by Marianna Mayer, Kinuko Y.
Craft (Illustrator) gets high ratings from parents reviewing it on
Amazon.com and seems age-appropriate. At 40 pages, this may also fill
the 20 minute slot.
• The Mitten by Jan Brett is a version of the tale "Teremok" and I
believe has been quite popular amongst parents. In this case, though,
the animals all climb inside a mitten instead of a little house.
• The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Alexander Pushkin, Gennady Spirin
(Illustrator) also got high reviews on Amazon.com and with Gennady
Spirin's illustrations, it would be a gorgeous thing to show to a class
(and enjoyable for the adult reading it).
I have not personally seen the above books (except for The Nose), but
in looking for other things for language classes and friends' kids,
they've crossed the radar a few times and could be worthwhile checking
out.
Hope this helps!
Emily Saunders
On May 16, 2006, at 6:13 PM, Dan Newton wrote:
> I've seen a children's version of Gogol's "The Nose."
>
> cn29 at COLUMBIA.EDU wrote:
>
>> Dear Seelangers,
>>
>> I have to select a story to read to my daughter's first-grade class
>> (about 20 minutes of reading time). I'd like to choose something
>> Russian. After all, it's never too early to inspire interest in
>> Russian literature! If any of you have favorite English-language
>> editions of appropriate Russian stories, I'd appreciate suggestions
>> off list. Thanks in advance for all your help.
>>
>> And also thank those of you who sent suggestions on Jane Austen in
>> Russia. I'll post a report to the list on results shortly. Best
>> wishes, Cathy
>>
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