Have fun with Two Trickster Tales from Russia by Sophie Masson and David Allan
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Two Trickster Tales from Russia tells the
entertaining stories of… A little girl called Masha, who outwits a bear… |
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And the rooster with a golden crest and a very tricksy fox....
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In your copy of the book, read the stories.
You can also listen to the audio version of the book free here.
You can also listen to the audio version of the book free here.
After you’ve read or listened to the stories, here are some fun writing and art activities
■ Write your own version of the stories
■ Draw your favourite characters
■ Make up your own bear rhyme, or fox-song
■ Food is important in both stories. Imagine the kinds of feasts Masha might have had to cook for the bear, and the rooster with the golden crest made for his friends. Maybe they even wrote down their recipes? Create an illustrated page from either Masha’s or the rooster’s recipe book.
Discussion and research activities
■ These traditional stories have been retold by Sophie Masson, but originally they come from
Russia, the biggest country in the world
■ Bears feature a lot in Russian folk tales and they are often used as a symbol of the country itself. But there are many real bears in the country: look up some of the ones mentioned in this article, and see what you can find out about them: https://www.russianrail.com/news/bears_and_russia.html
■ Both Masha and the Bear and The Rooster with the Golden Crest are set in a forest. There is still a lot of forest in Russia, and many traditional Russian tales are set there: look up ones like The Snow Maiden, http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/textonly2648-the-snow-maiden.html
and stories about Baba Yaga the forest witch: https://www.storynory.com/baba-yaga-a-scary-story-for-halloween/
■ Write your own version of the stories
■ Draw your favourite characters
■ Make up your own bear rhyme, or fox-song
■ Food is important in both stories. Imagine the kinds of feasts Masha might have had to cook for the bear, and the rooster with the golden crest made for his friends. Maybe they even wrote down their recipes? Create an illustrated page from either Masha’s or the rooster’s recipe book.
Discussion and research activities
■ These traditional stories have been retold by Sophie Masson, but originally they come from
Russia, the biggest country in the world
■ Bears feature a lot in Russian folk tales and they are often used as a symbol of the country itself. But there are many real bears in the country: look up some of the ones mentioned in this article, and see what you can find out about them: https://www.russianrail.com/news/bears_and_russia.html
■ Both Masha and the Bear and The Rooster with the Golden Crest are set in a forest. There is still a lot of forest in Russia, and many traditional Russian tales are set there: look up ones like The Snow Maiden, http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/textonly2648-the-snow-maiden.html
and stories about Baba Yaga the forest witch: https://www.storynory.com/baba-yaga-a-scary-story-for-halloween/
The style that illustrator David Allan used for the book was influenced by the classic Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin.
See what you can find out about him and the books he illustrated.
How do you think David's illustrations were influenced by Bilibin's work?
See what you can find out about him and the books he illustrated.
How do you think David's illustrations were influenced by Bilibin's work?
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Bonus activity!
Put on Sophie Masson’s play based on Masha and the Bear!
Click HERE to download the PDF of the play. The download should start automatically.
Click HERE to download the PDF of the play. The download should start automatically.