DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Russian Grandmother's Wonder Tales" by Louise Seymour Houghton, Friedrich S. Krauss. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

The stories which the Russian grandmother told will be found, with many others, in a German collection of “Tales and Legends of South Slavonia,” put forth in Vienna some twenty years ago by Dr. Friedrich Kraus, an ardent student of folk-lore. I have sketched in a slight background of peasant village life as it still exists in some parts of Southern Russia, because this is the proper setting of these stories; and I have been careful to clothe them as nearly as I might in the simple language in which they are told to-day by many a village fireside in South Slavonia. I frankly confess to having received from Mr. Joel Chandler Harris the suggestion which I have thus carried out. It was an unerring literary instinct which impelled him to put upon the lips of Uncle Remus and in the environment of a Southern country home of half a century ago the stories which he had found among the colored people of the South. Folk-tales, of whatever character, speak the more directly home to the hearts of children, whatever their own intellectual environment, in proportion as their setting is most nearly that which naturally belongs to them. Just as the highest value of the Homeric poems is their revelation of the heart of man, showing that in all ages and under all conditions heart answers to heart as face answers to face in water, so the folk-tales of all peoples in their native form have a higher function than simply to amuse, a higher than mere literary value; they are the child’s best introduction to the study of human nature. The children will not be the less interested in the stories which the Russian grandmother told to the little peasant boy if they discover in her wonder-tales some analogies with stories that they already know. The adventures ofMaster Reinecke and Mrs. Petz, of Isegrim and Lampe, will surely remind them of the Uncle Remus tales; they will find some suggestion of Kamer-es-zaman and the Princess Budoor in the story of “The Beg and the Fox,” a hint of the “City of Brass,” in that of “The Vila in Muhlenberg,” a faint reflection of the “Arabian Nights” story of theFisherman in the tale of the “Three Eels,” and they will be especially pleased to recognize their old friend—andSindbad the Sailor’s—the roc, in the bird Kumrikusha. The transformations which are so enchanting a feature of the “Arabian Nights” are here suggested in the story of “Steelpacha,” while the dress of feathers, most universal of folk-fancies, found among every people in the world, and most perfectly developed in the Arabian “Story of Hassan of Bassora,” here appears in the tale of “The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Pea-hens.”

An ancient Hopi parable states “He who tells stories, rules the world.” The stories which this Russian grandmother tells can be found, with many others, in a collection of “Tales and Legends of South Slavonia.” Here they have been sketched with the background of Russian peasant village life as it existed in some parts of Southern Russia. Because of this, the narrator has been careful to clothe them as nearly as possible in the simple language in which they are retold to-day by many a village fireside in South Slavonia. The 50 children’s stories in this volume are arranged into 24 chapters. Here you will find stories like: The Little Boy and the Grandmother, The Wolf as a Roman, The Sick Lion, Saturday Afternoon, The Fire of Shavings, The Man, the Hare, the Fox, and the Bear, The Bird, the Fox, and the Dog, A Pleasant Surprise, The Patient Little Boy, The Seven Stars, The Wonderful Story, The Bridge, The Korowai, The Basil-Plant, Steelpacha and many, many more. Just as the Hopi’s of North America told their children stories to teach morals and the lessons of life, so did the Russians, the Vikings, the Greeks, the ancient Egyptians as well as the Chinese, Japanese and Zulus. In fact you will find folklore and fairy tales in every nation on earth. Without exception, all have a simple message, good always wins and the evil protagonist will lose and be, at least exiled, or worse. So download this book and make yourself comfortable with a mug full of something hot and steaming and be prepared to be entertained for hours. YESTERDAY’S BOOKS raising funds for TODAYS CHARITIES ========== KEYWORDS: fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, children’s stories, bygone era, fairydom, fairy land, classic stories, children’s bedtime stories, fables, Adventures, Russian, Grandmother, Wonder Stories, Little Boy, Grandmother, Wolf as a Roman, Mother, Fête-Day, Sick Lion, Saturday Afternoon, Whiteling’s War, Isegrim, Fire of Shavings, Bear, Boar, Fox, frost Bite, Toes, Man, Hare, Fox, Bear, After Supper, Reinecke, Revenge, Isegrim, Snowy Day, Bird, Dog, Dove, Election Meeting, Hedgehog, Gockeling, Cock, Disappoint, Cat, Mouse, Pleasant Surprise, Badger, Stag, Patient, Little Boy, Hen, Sheep-Play, Beg, Seven Stars, the Vila, Muhlenberg, Homesick, Short Story, Golden, Apple Tree, Nine Peahens, Peacock, wonderful story, Youth, Sleepless, Golden Castle, Home Again, Prince, Princess, King, Queen, Betrothal, Deserter, Fields, Hunter, Watch Tower, Earth, Heaven, Bridge, Trinity Monday, Born, Die, Enchanted Lambs, Knot-Grass, Threshing, Three Eels, Korowai, Morning, Dew, Wedding, Neverfull, Basil-Plant, Wedding, Steelpacha

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "A Mother's List of Books for Children" by Gertrude Weld Arnold. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Russian literature for children and young people has a history that goes back over 400 years, starting in the late sixteenth century with the earliest alphabet primers and passing through many different phases over the centuries that followed. It has its own success stories and tragedies, talented writers and mediocrities, bestsellers and long-forgotten prize winners. After their seizure of power in 1917, the Bolsheviks set about creating a new culture for a new man and a starting point was children's literature. 70 years of Soviet control and censorship were succeeded in the 1990s by a re-birth of Russian children's literature. This book charts the whole of this story, setting Russian authors and their books in the context of translated literature, critical debates and official cultural policy.