Her quest for answers leads her to a wolf, a Yaga girl and mom, their Baba Yaga house on chicken legs, and her grandmother, the Bear Tsarina.

Yanka leaves her foster mother’s home in the village when her legs turn into hairy bear legs and paws. The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson Excellent storytelling and illustrations kept me totally enthralled in this not-your-average-fairy tale story. She thinks she will fail when she rescues three children from Baba Yaga’s cage, but she passes. After her grandmother dies and her father remarries, Masha decides to become Baba Yaga’s assistant. To pass Baba Yaga’s tests, Masha uses her wits and the stories from her grandmother. The Baba Yaga Story in Children’s Booksīaba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola, illustrated by Emily CarrollĬourageous and adventurous Masha knows Baba Yaga from her grandmother’s stories. The hut’s windows are sentient eyes and human bones, including skulls, decorate the top of the fence around Baba Yaga’s hut. The Baba Yaga Houseīaba Yaga lives in a hut on chicken legs that run fast to move the hut. The first written story is reported to be Russian Grammar by Mikhail W. The Baba Yaga stories were originally passed down orally. Similarly, Hayao Miyazaki modeled his old witch lady in Spirited Away after Baba Yaga. In the John Wick films, the main character is nicknamed Baba Yaga, symbolizing his villainous characteristics. References to this unique villain are everywhere in contemporary literature and film. You’ll find folktales and fairy tales about her in Slavic and Russian traditions. Even worse, she eats children! The hut of Baba Yaga transports her anywhere, but she also can fly through the air in an iron kettle or a mortar with a pestle. Who is Baba Yaga?īaba Yaga, depicted as a hag or crone, kidnaps kids to cook. If you want to read a Baba Yaga story about this wicked witch from Slavic folklore, here are great picture books and middle grade books appropriate for children. You may remember the creepy Baba Yaga house on chicken legs.

One of the most famous witch villains is Baba Yaga.

Kinuko y craft cinderella