Meet Yasha, whose beard grows down to the ground and keeps growing; an old babushka who lives in a boot with too many children; and a lonely traveler who makes stone soup for a poor village. These rhymes and folktales---some new, some from Mother Goose, Aesop, and elsewhere---are lovingly told with a Russian flavor, to reflect the heart and homeland of the author’s storyteller grandmother , her Babushka. “ Pure magic. Mother Goose’s high spirits reside in this Russian fare, accompanied by boldly painted scenes of people and animals dashing around and happily kicking up claws, paws, and heels.