Hello Readers,
I will just say this
review might be slightly biased because I love Baba Yaga and her stories, I
know this isn’t her story but it’s one of the reasons I grabbed this book. The House with Chicken Legs touches on important themes including grief and peer pressure.
There are spoilers in this review I’m afraid
This book is an
innovative retelling of the Baba Yaga tradition from Slavic folklore. The Baba
Yaga tales are one of my favourite sets of myths and she is part of the
world-wide myth cycles of the wise, old woman.
Baba Yaga is the Guardian of the Gate, the keeper of the doorway between
this world and the next by allowing safe passage for the dead to the stars. We
learn that without the Baba Yaga to guide them, the dead will fade away
forever.
The book is told from
Marinka perspective, Marinka is Baba Yaga’s granddaughter. Marinka has all the passion and flaws of 12-year-old. Her
emotions are raw, erratic almost and full of angst, but with a soft underbelly
and a desire to be listened to. Marinka is set to follow Baba Yagas footsteps and become a guide for the dead.
Marinka adores her grandmother and admires her gift in helping the
dead on their journey. The problem is that Marinka just wants a normal life.
She wants friends and to escape her inevitable
destiny.
Marinka and Baba live
in a special house, that has chicken legs!! The house takes them around the
world on their unlikely mission. Every few days, the house will rise on its
chicken legs and move to another location so that the living don’t find Baba
Yaga. This house doesn’t only have chicken legs its magical and cares for Baba
and Marinka, shielding and nurturing them.
This is such an
unusual and delightfully macabre tale. I love the folklore roots and that all the best fairy tales there was a dark undertone to the
story. Marinka is a wonderful and relatable heroine, who is at times unforgiving and at other times kind, compassionate and brave. Baba is a
fearsome but loving character and true to form.
The characters that we
meet along this journey are brilliant and compliment the magical elements throughout the story while managing to stay in familiar experiences of friendship, sadness, elation, frustration and the exhilaration of new experiences. The whole array of
supporting characters each bring their own wonderful flourishes to the story.
The main characters
N Marinka has all the passion and flaws of 12-year-old.
Her emotions are raw, erratic almost and full of angst, but with a soft
underbelly and a desire to be listened to.
N Baba Yaga herself stays true to her traditional
character.
N The house with the chicken legs? Well, the house is a
character of its own
I’m a big fan of
folklore (if you hadn’t guessed). I will be honest I was a little apprehensive
when I heard about a new version coming out but stupidly excited at the same
time. This isn't really a complete retelling of
the classic Slavic folktales it's more of a beautiful and well thought out
reimagining. Sophie Anderson has infused every page of this
book with a wonderfully imaginative world that makes me want to exist in it and get my self a house with chicken legs. I
think that the story not only speaks to young reader's but older readers too as it
will take them on a magical journey full of wonder.
Don’t let the fact the book is marketed as a 9
years+ book put you off reading as I think you’ll miss out on wonderful story.
L x
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