About the book: year / What unites the warlike Marya Morevna and the resigned Vasilisa the Beautiful? Why is the stepdaughter a “damsel in distress”? What is the axis of motivation for the Little Chanterelle? Have you noticed that the appearance, characters and even trials of the heroes and heroines of Russian folk tales are typical for many plots? This collection includes fairy tales collected by folklorist Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev, in which the central place is occupied by archetypal female characters - from Baba Yaga to Tiny Khavroshechka. The warrior Marya Morevna, the majestic Elena the Wise, the enchanted Frog Princess and other heroines come to life in the illustrations of the talented artist Anteyku, who gave a new look to old fairy tales. Who is this book for? For connoisseurs of folklore and mythology. For those who are interested in Russian culture, archetypes. For those who want to immerse themselves in the past and find parallels with modernity. From the illustrator I had to rethink classic stories from the point of view of my own experience and style, which turned out to be quite difficult. At first, I tossed between two approaches: to make illustrations in the classic Bilibin style or to go into the avant-garde and come up with a completely new interpretation. In the end, I decided not to invent a wheel, but to rely on my creative flair. I asked my wonderful subscribers to send me their photographs, and I based them on their images, creating half of the illustrations so that the heroines turned out to be as diverse as possible. From the outside it’s a little difficult to say, what stylistic devices did I use to tie all the illustrations together? This usually happens subconsciously, but what is definitely common is the restrained color scheme, which I associate with archaic, and local background fills with character detail. I went to the university library many times to study what a historical Russian costume looks like, but in the end I still ended up with a combo fantasy, so don’t judge too harshly.