Katrusya is devastated that her family cannot afford Christmas presents this year, but it simply wouldn’t be Christmas without a tree. She soon finds the perfect one in the deepest part of the forest and decorates it with homemade ornaments. But the next day the tree is crawling with spiders! Luckily, Katrusya convinces her mother not to throw the tree away. When the family returns from church that evening, they discover that the spiders have left a dazzling Christmas miracle.
A baby bird discovers the joy of flying despite his initial fears.
Betrayed by her jealous sisters, a Tsarina and her infant son are marooned on a barren island until a magical swan helps them regain their rightful heritage.
A clever and beautiful woman uses her wits to get her husband out of Prince Vladimir’s prison.
A little girl made from the magical first snow lives with a lonely man and his wife through the winter, and when she disappears in the spring, the couple set out in search of her.
A collection of folk tales from the Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Moldavia.
A collection of folk tales from the Caucasus.
Their inattentiveness strands a little mouse and a little cat in the meadow after dark, where their fear turns into a wonderful discovery, in a fable that confronts children’s fear of the dark.
Despite the warnings of their sisters and brothers, a little mouse and a little cat enjoy playing in the rain with a frog.