Down the Magic River

“Down the Magic River” is a witty, entertaining novella by E. Uspensky based on Russian fairy tales. Mitya, an ordinary schoolboy, goes to stay with his grandmother in the countryside for the summer and ends up in the Kingdom of Beyond. There, he encounters all the characters he knows from childhood: Zmey Gorynych eats people, and Baba Yaga might eat you too, but she mostly welcomes princes, feeds them, gives them drinks, and tucks them in for bed. Koschei the Immortal is made entirely of iron and has spent two hundred years chained up in a basement. Then an opportunity arises: King Makar is preparing to abdicate. So his “loyal” royal servants suggest that Koschei take the throne. But a change of power is rarely peaceful. Illustrations by O. Ionaitis. For children under 3.