Another way that I have been introducing my children to Russian culture is by reading them Russian fairy tales. Both my son, age 8, and my daughter, age 5, have been asking for them daily now. I fell in love with these fairy tales when I lived in Russia, and fortunately, there are several good English translations on the web.
Here are a few of my favorites and the links to these tales:
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| Ivan and Elena the Beautiful on the Grey Wolf by Viktor Vasnetsov |
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| The Frog Princess from Tradestone Gallery |
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| Vasilisa on her way to borrow fire from Baba Yaga. By Ivan Bilbin. |
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| Baba Yaga flying around in her mortar and pestle. By Ivan Bilbin. |
Fairy Tales or Not?
I know that many families tend to shy away from fairy tales for various reasons. Some want to shield their children from what they feel are undue fears and nightmares. Others object to the witchcraft/magic aspect. Still others feel that fairy tales are irrelevant to our modern world.
In our family, I have come to value sharing fairy tales with my children. These tales allow my children to consider different moral possibilities, ponder the difference between good and evil, and hear traditional wisdom from different cultures in an intuitive way. Interestingly enough, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien and G.K. Chesterton, three great Christian writers of the twentieth century, as well as the Irish monks who helped preserve western civilization during the Dark Ages, all placed great value on ancient myths and fairy tales.
For well-written thoughts on the benefits of fairy tales, please click on this link by Susanne Lakin: The Importance of Reading Fairy Tales to Children and this essay by G.K. Chesterton: The Red Angel.
