Explore the folklore of the trickster, villain, and rescuer known as Baba Yaga in a new light. “With Becoming Baba Yaga, Kris Spisak presents a robust work of scholarship. Baba Yaga is a wily shapeshifter, nearly impossible to pin down—but Spisak miraculously transforms alongside her, ever keeping up.” —from the foreword by GennaRose Nethercott, bestselling author of Thistlefoot When darkness, fear, and instability inundate our daily lives, folktale figures like Baba Yaga speak to the dichotomy of our existence—the hope and the horror, the magic and the mundane. At once an old hag and an enchantress, a demon and wish granter, a feminist and nothing more than a fairytale, Baba Yaga is an endlessly complex folktale character. Becoming Baba Yaga provides an in-depth look at the Baba Yaga mythos and history through Slavic folklore. Filled with historical and cultural context, analyses, and the stories themselves that add depth to the conversation. A comprehensive resource for anyone hoping to learn more about this ambiguous character and how her multifaceted presence still ripples through the present day, Becoming Baba Yaga is as thoughtful as it is illuminating. Spisak explores Baba Yaga’s connection to nature as an Earth goddess and as an herbalist. She also delves into the Shadow Self and Baba Yaga’s aspect as a trickster and places her in a modern context as not merely a witch of the woods but also as an archetype and force for finding your own path. Becoming Baba Yaga shares how she is both a force for good as much as evil and a feminist before her time.

Baba Yaga is a well-known witch from the folklore tradition of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. A fascinating and colorful character, she resembles witches of other traditions but is in many ways unique. Living in the forest in a hut that stands and moves on chicken legs, she travels in a mortar with a pestle and sweeps away her tracks with a broom. In some tales she tries to harm the protagonist, while in others she is helpful. This book investigates the image and ambiguity of Baba Yaga in detail and considers the meanings she has for East Slavic culture. Providing a broad survey of folktales and other sources, it is the most thorough study of Baba Yaga yet published and will be of interest to students of anthropology, comparative literature, folklore, and Slavic and East European studies.

A beautiful illustrated collection of fairy tales about the most iconic and active of Russian magical characters

A little girl and a hedgehog match wits with Baba Yaga, the Russian witch. Grades 1-3.

Finding Baba Yaga is a mythic yet timely novel-in-verse by the beloved and prolific New York Times bestselling author and poet Jane Yolen, “the Hans Christian Andersen of America” (Newsweek). A young woman discovers the power to speak up and take control of her fate—a theme that has never been more timely than it is now... You think you know this story. You do not. A harsh, controlling father. A quiescent mother. A house that feels like anything but a home. Natasha gathers the strength to leave, and comes upon a little house in the wood: A house that walks about on chicken feet and is inhabited by a fairy tale witch. In finding Baba Yaga, Natasha finds her voice, her power, herself.... "Jane Yolen is a phenomenon: a poet and a mythmaker, who understands how old stories can tell us new things. We are lucky to have her."—Neil Gaiman

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From the beloved New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of Thank You, Mr. Falker and Pink and Say. Baba Yaga is a witch famous throughout Russia for eating children, but this Babushka Baba Yaga is a lonely old woman who just wants a grandchild--to love. "Kids will respond to the joyful story of the outsider who gets to join in, and Polacco's richly patterned paintings of Russian peasant life on the edge of the woods are full of light and color." -- Booklist "A warm, lively tale, neatly mixing new and old and illustrated with Polacco's usual energetic action, bright folk patterns, and affectionate characterizations." --Kirkus Reviews

With a strange, otherworldly style, poetic clarity, and striking honesty, Ask Baba Yaga contains beautifully skewed wisdom to be consulted in times of need. Dear Baba Yaga, I think I must crave male attention too much. I fear that, without it, I would feel invisible. BABA YAGA: When you seek others this way, you are invisible nonetheless. Yr shawl is covered in mirrors in which others admire themselves; this is why they greet you so passionately. It is good to be seen, but it is better to see. Find a being to look hard into, & you will see yrself and what is more than you. In age-old Slavic fairy tales, the witch Baba Yaga is sought out by those with a burning need for guidance. In contemporary life, Baba Yaga--a dangerous, slippery oracle--answered earnest questions on The Hairpin for years. These pages collect her most poignant, surreal, and humorous exchanges along with all-new questions and answers for those seeking her mystical advice.

Baba Yaga is an old hag who lives in a house built on chicken legs and kidnaps small children. She is one of the most pervasive and powerful creatures in all mythology. She appears in many forms: as Pupa, a tricksy, cantankerous old woman who keeps her legs tucked into a huge furry boot; as a trio of mischievous elderly women who embark on the trip of a lifetime to a hotel spa; and as a villainous flock of ravens, black hens and magpies infected with the H5N1 virus. But what story does Baba Yaga have to tell us today? This is a quizzical tale about one of the most pervasive and powerful creatures in all mythology, and an extraordinary yarn of identity, secrets, storytelling and love.

When a terrible witch vows to eat her for supper, a little girl escapes with the help of a mirror and comb given to her by the witch's cat and dog.