If you get one Russian-themed Christmas book for you child this winter, get Uncle Vova's Tree, by Patricia Polacco.

This book, probably most appropriate for children 5 and up due to its length, is a sad but sweet story of the Russian Christmas traditions of Uncle Vova and his wife, Svetlana, as they practice in their home in North America.

All the traditions are in this book - the... more

All holds are off! It's the day after the day after the day after THanksgiving and my enthusiasm for all things Christmas can finally be loosed!

Whoo hoo! Merry Christmas!

I have to work up the enthusiasm because honestly, without it the Christmas season can be a bit wearying. It has been that way for the past several years - ever since my lovely husband has become an artist on our county's open studio tour. The first two weekends in December he's been out of commission - at a local Bed and Breakfast all day long, selling his photographs. I don't begrudge... more

Gennady Spirin's The Tale of the Firebird , translated by Tatiana Popova and illustrated by Gennady Spirin, is another gorgeous Russian-themed picture book.

Spirin is a Russian-born illustrator who came to the United States in 1991 at the invitation of Philomel and Dial Press and he's done a number of beautiful books since then. The Tale of the Firebird is no exception.

The story... more

The Colors of Russia, by Shannon Zemlicka, illustrated by Jeni Reeves, is a beautiful little paperback book that teaches children about various aspects of the Russian culture (the yellow palace in Saint Petersburg, the red flag of the Communist party - as well as some history since then, the blue of Lake Baikul, the black of caviar, the gold of the Russian Orthodox church, etc.).

One thing... more

Here's a book to add to your shelf of Russian tales: Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, as told by Marianna Meyer; illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft.

It's obvious by the cover image that the illustration is gorgeous. The story, a retelling of one of the Vasilisa tales, is also gorgeous.

Vasilisa has something of a Cinderella story: she has a cruel stepmother and two evil stepsisters and she's doomed... more

Check out this article on Salon: "Destination: Russia." It's about travel in Russia while reading the great literature of Russia - always a great combo, in my opinion.

A class I took in college first turned me on to the idea of reading literature based in the place you are visiting. I took a class called "British Writers and the British Landscape" as part of a short-term summer class, in which we read 10 or so novels as we traveled about England and Scotland. I loved that class. If I... more

This is a pretty nice little book that features the Russian alphabet as well as beautiful illustrations taken from masterpieces from the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. It's out-of-print, but I got my copy used on amazon and when I just checked there were 8 copies...although I wouldn't spend more than $15 on it. It's the kind of book an adult would think was cool, and one which you might want to buy if you collect books for your kids about Russian culture, but it's not an especially kid-friendly book since the illustrations are all fine art and the text is factual.

It... more

It's not so often that I actually sit down and read my cookbooks, but A Year of Russian Feasts, by Catherine Cheremetoff Jones, is one that I read from cover-to-cover.

Jones does not just list recipes, or even list recipes with a pithy little comment to precede the ingredients, but rather writes her book as a part-travelogue, part-cultural evaluation, part-family history -- with recipes liberally sprinkled throughout. It's a very enjoyable... more

The Littlest Matryoshka is by Corinne Demas Bliss and illustrated by Kathryn Brown. This book is sweet and a little sappy and can easily serve as a metaphor for our children's adoption experiences. It's probably most appropriate for little girls (because it's about sisters) but my little boys like it well enough. If you have matryoshka dolls around it helps the story.

The book is about a family of matryoshka dolls, lovingly created by Nikolai the doll maker in a little village in Russia. They are all sisters: Nina, Nadia, Vanda, Varka, Olga, and Anna. Nina is the... more

Book review week continues here at the Russian adoption blog. Wish me luck in my move. I'm posting this for Thursday when I'll be completely off-line and frantically covering my kitchen cabinet shelves with contact paper! Here are two books I heartily recommend for the smaller set of kids adopted from Russia. Russia ABCs, by Ann Berge, and Look What Came From Russia! Harvey.

Russia... more