Old Peter’s Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome, £9
WRITTEN while in Russia, the stories in this book are retold by Arthur Ransome for “children who play in deep lanes with wild roses above them in the high hedges, or by the small singing becks that dance down the grey fells at home.” Originally published in 1916, this collection of Russian Folklore is now published by the Arthur Ransome Trust in a single volume with the second collection first published in 1984 as The War of the Birds and the Beasts.
In his introduction, Arthur Ransome’s great nephew, Hugh Lupton, describes having these read to them, one each evening when they first stayed at Greensykes and why fairy tales and folklore still hold their power for him today because “they come from somewhere deep in our shared humanity and they do not shy away from what is essentially true.”
This book is currently available from bookshops in Ambleside, Windermere and Grasmere.
CAROLINE REECE
WATERSTONES KENDAL
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