Stravinsky’s Firebird draws on several Russian folk tales, though there is no single folk tale which exactly mirrors the story told by Stravinsky. One consequence of this is that whilst there are many picture books featuring the firebird from Russian folk tales, the stories told in them are not necessarily identical (or even similar) to that of the ballet. Here is a clear synopsis of the ballet from the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet, whilst here, at SurLaLune is “the Firebird tale most familiar to most English speakers, Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf“. M, J and I read a mixture of books closely based on the ballet, and others more loosely based on other Firebird tales.

The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet, retold by Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Angela Barrett


This retelling of the Firebird story, which closely resembles the version told in the ballet, is beautifully written – it feels like an original story, rather than an adaptation or plot summary. Unfortunately the text is accompanied by only a few illustrations, and whilst these are quite detailed and pretty (indeed Barrett’s illustrations have been described as ‘on the Rackham and Shepard level,’ though I don’t think that comes across so clearly in this volume), both my girls and I wish there had been many more of them. Get hold of this version if you want a great text and a collection of other ballet stories (additionally included in this volume are the tales of Swan Lake, Coppelia, Gisele, Cinderella, La Sylphide, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Petrouchka and The Sleeping Beauty).

M reading The Firebird in The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet

The exact same story of the Firebird (ie the retelling by Geraldine McCaughrean), with identical illustrations (by Angela Barrett) can be found in Princes and Princesses: Seven Tales of Enchantment, a collection of stories selected from The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet, The Orchard Book of Magical Tales, The Orchard Book of Fairy Tales and The Sleeping Princess and Other Fairy Tales from Grimm (also published by Orchard Books)

Stories from the Ballet by Margaret Greaves, illustrated by Lisa Kopper


This version of the Firebird is again pretty faithful to the version of the original ballet, but the retelling is quite plain, even pedestrian. It feels more like a plot synopsis than an enthralling fairy tale, especially in comparison to the retelling by Geraldine McCaughrean. The illustrations are colourful but not ones that inspired M or me, and again their are only a few scattered through the story (though because the retelling is shorter than in The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet the text to picture ratio is better). The simplicity of this version may make it a better bet for readers slightly younger than those who would most enjoy the richer vocabulary of Geraldine McCaughrean’s retelling, but the paucity of illustrations meant that I found it almost impossible to hold J’s attention whilst reading this story.

M reading The Firebird in Stories from the Ballet by Margaret Greaves

The Firebird by Demi


This Firebird bears no resemblance whatsoever to the story as told by Stravinsky’s music, nor the version described on SurLaLune, but instead tells the story of Dmitri and the Horse of Power. Having proved his skill and bravery by capturing the firebird for Tsar Ivan, Dmitri is sent on a series of quests all related to the Tsar’s daughter Vassilissa. After several struggles and tests of courage he wins the hand of the princess, and the tsar is vanquished. Despite the title of this book, the firebird barely appears in this story. Nevertheless I’m so glad we discovered this book as the story is full of excitement and the illustrations are sumptuous and stunning. The pictures are full of detailed patterns and the extensive use of red and gold (several pages have an entirely gold background, rather than the usual white) make this book feel very special to hold – indeed like a treasure from a tsar’s palace. Both girls enjoyed listening to this story – the illustrations ensured that J lapped it up as well as her older sister who appreciated the quests within the story much more. The only slightly odd aspect of this book is that to my (admittedly completely untrained eye) the patterns and imagery, whilst utterly beautiful, seemed often to bear more resemblance to Celtic rather than Russian iconography.

M reading Demi's Firebird

The Tale of the Firebird by Gennady Spirin


As the author and illustrator of this visual feast of a book notes, this version of the firebird story is an adaptation of three different Russian fairy tales, Ivan Tsarevitch and the Gray Wolf, Baba Yaga and Koshchei the immortal, and thus if you want a picture book to tell the story of Stravinsky’s ballet, this is not the book for you. However, when I found a copy I could not resist bringing it home because the illustrations are so detailed and beautiful I should like to have each one on my wall. Although, according to the endnotes, watercolours were used to create the illustrations, the main images remind me of old oil paintings – perhaps partly because of the subdued tones used throughout that give this book a feeling of some age (a dusty leather cover would suit it better than the shiny dust jacket it comes with!) whilst the borders around the text look like often look like tapestries you might expect to find in a stately home.

M reading The Tale of the Firebird by Gennady Spirin

To sum up, if you want a retelling of The Firebird which closely follows the story of the ballet, I’d suggest The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet. If you want a great picture book that younger listeners will enjoy too, that happens to have a firebird amongst it’s characters, then go for Demi’s Firebird, and if you want to treat yourself or an older child then The Tale of the Firebird by Gennady Spirin is the one to go for.

In the next post I’ll this next post I describe the various activities we got up to listening to Stravinsky’s music, in addition to reading and enjoying these books – but in the mean time if you have any suggestions of retellings of the ballet The Firebird (perhaps in other ballet story collections you have), I’d really love to know about them!

I’m very excited about this week’s contribution to Fantastic Fiction for Kids! It comes from (did you manage to guess?) none other than James Mayhew, author and illustrator of the Katie series (including Katie’s Picture Show, Katie in London, and Katie and the Sunflowers, which I reviewed here) as well as numerous other books.

When I first approached James about contributing to Fantastic Fiction for Kids I thought he might select books with an operatic theme, as I knew that opera is one of his passions, but instead he has opted (in his words) for “theatre in all its forms, but not retellings of, for example, Shakespeare. These are stories that explore theatre from within. The backstage dramas, the thrill of preparing for a performance, the aspirational dream to be a star: these books touch on such ideas, some more than others, but all make the idea of being on stage (or even backstage) irresistibly exciting. As someone who dreams of one day designing sets and costumes for Grand Opera, these books continue to inspire and excite me with images of the sheer magic of working in a theatre, with the potential to touch and transform lives.”

After such an enticing introduction let’s take a look at James’ selection of books!

Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson.

All families are filled with Hemulins, Fillyjonks and have a snork or two. You just need to know where to look. And this was Jansson’s genius: to take reconisable human foibles and illuminate them in her beautifully crafted words and images. Her Moominvalley is one of the great literary imaginings of the twentieth century. Here we meet Misabel and Whomper who join the flooded Moomin family in an apparently haunted floating theatre. Eventually Emma the stage rat reveals herself and Moominpappa is inspired to write a play. The lonely Misabel dreams of becoming an actress and the rest of them come to grips with revolving stages, drop scenery and theatre etiquette. While young Moomintroll and the Snork Maiden fall overboard and encounter different adventures, his parents and their eccentric entourage take to life in the theatre with their usual resourcefulness. This book is funny and beautiful and bizarre, and has an authentic whiff of greasepaint in the fanciful scenes in the theatre.

Pet of the Met by Lydia Freeman and Don Freeman

This is a vintage American picture book, recently republished, which tells the exciting tale of the Petrini family who live in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The fact that they are mice is what makes the book so delicious. Drama is provided by Mefisto, the theatre cat, who is out to get Maestro Petrini, the father. But without giving too much away, the story (with sparky retro illustrations) ends happily, and simultaneously whets any child’s appetite for Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Higglety Pigglety Pop: Or, There Must be More to Life by Maurice Sendak

So much of Sendak’s work has a theatrical dimension, not least his book of The Nutcracker. And the great man has designed sets and costumes for many operas and ballets, while some of his works, including this book, have been adapted for the stage. This story became an opera at Glyndebourne together with Where The Wild Things Are. That’s quite a tribute! Starring a dog called Jennie, it is about many things, but for my purposes here it is particularly about finding a leading lady for the Mother Goose theatre. Could Jennie the dog fit the bill? What must she do to gain the necessary experience?

The Swan by Helen May

This is an unusual and out of print book, published in 1958, which tells the life story in rather earnest words but with lovely sketchy drawings, of Anna Pavlova, the great prima-ballerina. Famous as both Tchaikovsky’s Odette and as Saint-Saen’s The Dying Swan, the title becomes clear. Again, we learn about the hard work behind being successful on the stage and while there are many books about ballet – story retellings, pop up theatres and so on (not to mention Noel Streatfeild), I am always more interested in the real people who created the illusions on stage. Good biographies of really admirable people are rare for children, which is a shame. There should be more books like this, unflinching and real, yet with the romantic sweep of an ambition and a dream fulfilled to make us all believe we can succeed in life.

Now, don’t those books sound lovely? I’ve just reserved those I can through our library system and can’t wait for them to arrive. In the meantime I shall do some browsing of the various blogs which James writes – why don’t you take a look too!

Whilst browsing James’ blogs you might enjoy listening to:

Theatre Rat Emma’s Song from the album The Best Original Moomin Songs (in Finnish )

And as to theatrical crafty inspiration, here are some of my favourite finds:

Thanks indeed to James for this week’s wonderful list of books. I’ve certainly discovered some new titles, and am now feeling inspired to help M and J put on a little performance here at home over the holidays! I’m also very pleased to be able to announce that James is just the first of several authors who have agreed to contribute to Playing by the book – I’ve already got two more authors’ contributions for the new year And in the mean time, next week we’ve got a very yummy Fantastic Fiction for Kids post lined up – all about baking! Looking forward to seeing you all then