Folktales of the Amur: Stories from the Russian Far east by Dmitri Nagishkin, illustrated by Gennady Pavlishin, translated by Emily Leherman, and published 1975 by Khabarovsk Publishing house, is a collection of traditional literature stories from the far east of Russia. This is a chapter book of short stories that have been passed down for generations in eastern Russia. There are many fine short stories in this book but my favorite was The Fleetest of foot. This is a story similar to that of the tortes and the hare. In this story the hare races every creature in the woods saying that when he runs, “I see nothing, I hear nothing.” Eventually a mouse challenges, and beats him in a race by only running a short distance because the hare cannot see or hear when running. This story is full of cunning characters, and a very interesting front illustrated cover. The mouse is a surprising character. The mouse is very cunning tricking the hare into racing. This is something that peaked my interest. The mouse knows that she can trick the hare into running the race, but it takes some convincing. The author shows great skill at creating a character that I both liked and despised at the same time. The mouse does not even come in until half way through the story. At this point the mouse begins to act innocent. It is during the three races we find the mouse tricked the hare. I have always been a fan of far eastern artwork. Every story in Folktales of the Amur Stories From the Russian Far East is decorated with its own unique boarder and front illustration to the story. The Fleetest of Foot is boarded by an interesting green and black zigzag line pattern that helped to keep my attention while reading the story. The main illustration shows a mouse hiding behind a bush while a hare sprints onward. This illustration is a beautiful piece of artwork that shows the Eastern type of clothing that is popular in that part of the world. In The Fleetest of Foot greed and consequence of pride are major themes to this story. The mouse is so greedy to be the best in the land that it tricks the hare into a race. The hare is so prideful and boastful that it cannot see that the mouse is tricking him. ( )

Book Description: New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1980. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. First Edition. 9"-11.5". Yellow cloth with green ornamental design and lettering in unclipped white dj with full color pict, all as new, mint cond; color pict eps, all pages with decorative border, many partial and full pg color illus, 224 pp.