'Egg & Spoon' by Gregory Maguire is a children's fiction novel set in Russia, featuring a rich array of Russian folklore and folktales such as The Firebird, Baba Yaga, and nesting dolls. The story follows two young girls, a city girl and a country girl, who accidentally swap places and find themselves embroiled in a magical adventure. The narrative blends elements of a moralistic fairy tale and a Tsarist Russian version of 'The Prince and the Pauper', all set against a backdrop of Russian history and culture.
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From The Publisher:
"A beautiful reminder that fairy tales are at their best when they illuminate the precarious balance between lighthearted childhood and the darkness and danger of adulthood." - School Library Journal (starred review)
Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside, and there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying a cornucopia of food, untold wealth, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg-a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena's age. When the two girls' lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and-in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured-Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs.
Ratings (2)
Loved It (1) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (3):
Read It (2) | |
Not Interested (1) |
2 comment(s)
This book is a smooth ride. It reminds me of
Wicked in that way - every scene has a purpose and it hangs together very well thematically. I thought some of the other books in the
Wicked series were not so cohesive. This has a little Prince and the Pauper, a little real-life Russian history, and a lot of magic. PLUS it has one of my favorite folk tale characters, Baba Yaga. I've always loved stories about her, and Maguire has a great take on her in this book. Baba Yaga is a witch who eats children, but she also has an air of loneliness under her crackling wit. She exists outside of time and space, and therefore makes references to things that happened far in the past or in the future. She provides a strong backbone for the narrative.
This story appears to be about saving Russia by returning its magic to a normal cycle (helping the ice dragon sleep, getting the Firebird to hatch), but it's about more than that: Elena and Cat must take their heroism to a more long-term, mundane level than running around in the chicken-legged house and appeasing the dragon. In order to truly help Russia the prince(ss) and the pauper must work together to help people, not just magical creatures.
Egg & Spoon honestly took me way too long to read, and it wasn't even worth it. The book builds until Elena and friends meet the Tsar and the prince, but it could do without everything after that point.
I also don't love the commentary on poverty. I mean, Elena's family and village literally have
no food and
no money at the start of the book, but instead of the criticizing feudalism/capitalism and offering transformative solutions, the solution in the book is
for Elena and friends to start a charity kitchen that reinforces the narrative that poor people only deserve sh*tty food that no one else wants
. The characters literally gallivant across the country with Baba Yaga, the QUEEN of magic herself, and this is the most imaginative solution they can think of at the end of everything? Bro, I'm done with this book.
What can you read after
Egg & Spoon?
About the Author:
Gregory Maguire is the author of the incredibly popular books in the Wicked Years series, including Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which inspired the musical. He is also the author of several books for children, including What-the-Dickens, a New York Times bestseller. Gregory Maguire lives outside Boston.
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