Carolyn Croll

An old farmer with three sons debates to which he should leave his farm in this picture book retelling of a German folktale. Deciding upon a test, he tells them one day that the one who can fill the barn the best will be his heir. So begins the contest, as eldest son Gideon fills the barn with animals, and middle son Simon fills it with hay. When it is the turn of Amos, the youngest and smallest brother, his idea—to light a candle and fill the barn with light—is hailed as the best, and he is chosen as the winner. Fortunately, he has no desire to be the sole inheritor...

According to the introductory note here, written by Tomie dePaola, The Three Brothers is based upon a tale type found in both Germany and Latvia, although the German version of the tale is the one referenced in the sub-title. No further information as to specific sources is given, unfortunately, although dePaola does discuss the influence of the Pennsylvania Dutch (AKA German) folk art of Carolyn Croll's own native region of Pennsylvania on her illustrations. In any case, I found this an engaging little book, although the realist in me did wonder whether the happily ever after would last, once each son decided to marry. The artwork is lovely, much as in Croll's The Little Snowgirl, with deep, vivid colors and appealing folkloric figures. Recommended to young folklore enthusiasts.… (meer)

Pavel the woodcutter and his wife Caterina long for a child in this picture book adaptation of a Russian folktale, a longing which becomes more intense during the Christmas season. When Pavel creates a snow girl one night, and she comes alive, it seems that their wish is granted, but this new daughter cannot live inside with them, nor enjoy the pleasure of warm food or warm embraces. When the holiday gift-giver Baboushka visits on Christmas Eve, Snowgirl knows what gift she will ask for...

According to the introductory note here, The Little Snowgirl is based upon a folktale entitled "The Little Daughter of Snow," which can be found in Arthur Ransome's 1916 collection, Old Peter's Russian Tales. The original had an unhappy ending, one in which the old couple lost their snow daughter when they wouldn't give the fox who rescued her a hen, in exchange for bringing her home from the forest. Here there is a happy ending, as the Snowgirl is transformed into a human child by Baboushka (who does not appear in the original). Apparently author/illustrator Carolyn Croll took the first half of the Ransome tale, and combined it with the apocryphal folktale concerning Baboushka, the old woman who missed her chance to visit the Christ child on the first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men visited her home. In this telling, she eventually became a Christmas gift-giver, similar to Old Befana in the Italian tradition. This is a similarity that Tomie dePaola, the creative director at Whitebird Books, makes in his introductory note.

The story of Baboushka has been retold many times in Anglophone children's literature, in titles such as Ruth Robbins and Nicolas Sidjakov's Caldecott Medal-winning Baboushka and the Three Kings, Charles Mikolaycak's Babushka: An Old Russian Folktale, Arthur Scholey and Helen Cann's Baboushka: A Christmas Folktale from Russia, Dawn Casey and Amanda Hall's Babushka: A Christmas Tale, and Elena Pasquali and Lucia Mongioj's The Tale of Baboushka: A Traditional Christmas Story. Unfortunately, although presented in the west as a traditional Russian folktale, it is nothing of the kind, and is actually a Russified version of similar tales from other traditions, coming from American author Edith M. Thomas' 1907 poem Babushka (A Russian Legend), taken from her collection, Children of Christmas.

Given this history, what is to be found in The Little Snowgirl is really an amalgamation of a traditional Russian tale ("The Little Daughter of Snow") with elements of another story that is attributed to Russian tradition, but does not in fact reflect their culture. This doesn't ruin the story for me, as I still found it and the artwork quite appealing, but I think folklore enthusiasts should be aware of the fact.… (meer)