Open the book, and you will find yourselves in a world of magic. None of your old friends will be there -neither Jack the Giant Killer, nor Little Red Riding Hood, nor Cinderella or any of the others. Instead, together with Ivan the Peasant’s Son you will cross swords with Chudo-Yudo, the fire-breathing monster; follow Pokati-Goroshek the Rolling Pea into the underground kingdom and return from there on the back of an eagle; marvel at the cleverness of Zarniyar who outwitted the sly and cruel Shah; be filled with admiration at Boroldoi-Mergen, the brave hunter of the Altai Mountains who risked the life of his own son in order to save his people; delight in the resourcefulness of a simple weaver who surpassed in wisdom the wisest councillors of the tsar. A Mountain of Gems – Fairy-Tales of the Peoples of the Soviet Land – Illustrated by Vladimir Minayev is a collection of many fairy tales rendered into English from Russia, The Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Chukchi. The Soviet Union was a huge country, the largest in the world. Its neighbors were Alaska in the East and Scandinavia in the West. In the south it stretched as far as the Caucasus and Pamir mountain ranges, and in the North reached out into the Arctic Ocean. And each of the peoples of the former Soviet Union has its own fairytales. Pook Press celebrates the great 'Golden Age of Illustration' in children's classics and fairy tales - a period of unparalleled excellence in book illustration. We publish rare and vintage Golden Age illustrated books, in high-quality colour editions, so that the masterful artwork and story-telling can continue to delight both young and old.