Bearhead A Russian Folktale

 Bearhead: A Russian Folktale by Eric A. Kimmel

Bibliographic data  

Kimmel, Eric A. Bearhead: A Russian Folktale. Ill. By. Charles Mikolaycak. New York: Holiday House, 197. ISBN 9780823413027 

 

 Brief plot summary  

    A farmer and his wife find an infant in the forest. This infant has the head of a bear and the body of a human. The cou0ple named the infant Bearhead. They take him home and raise him as their own. One day the old farmer receives a letter from the witch, Madame Hexaba to come work for her. Bearhead offers to go to Madame Hexaba’s place instead of his father. Madame Hexaba puts Bearhead to work, and he begins to cause havoc for Madame Hexaba because of his literal interpretation of her orders. After some time and a run-in with a goblin, Bearhead has outwitted both Madame Hexaba and the goblin and is released from duty and goes back to his parents' home where he leaves them a gift and moves to the forest to begin his new life as a bear.  

 
Critical analysis  

    Author Eric Kimmel has adapted Bearhead from his favorite Russian tale Ivanko the Bears Son.             Kimmel changed the original character from having the head of a human and body of a bear to head of a bear and body of a human. The character Bearhead is honest, hardworking and follows directions. Kimmel created a humorous story that the readers will enjoy as Bearhead  outwits his opposition. The illustrations by Mikolaycak are done in watercolors and colored pencils. The pictures are bold and colorful, and they transport the reader into the story. The illustrator also included 2 cats. The cats do not participate in the story, other than being a bystander watching the chaos that is Bearhead. The reader witnesses exactly how Bearhead responds to the directions of Madame Hexaba and surely must laugh at the outcome depicted in the illustrations. 

 
  Review excerpt(s)  

• Horn Book Guide (March, 1992) Kimmel's mix of folksy simplicity and tongue-in-cheek humor invites the book to be read aloud, and Mikolaycak's vivid, lively watercolors are outstanding. 

• Kirkus Reviews (1991) Enriched by old-world Russian detail, they depict a sturdy, charming hero, an intriguing frog/sea-monster goblin who's more debonair than appalling, and an oddly vulnerable-looking Madame Hexaba. A satisfying story in a handsome setting. 

• Publishers Weekly (July 25, 1991) this is a satisfying tale, and children will delight in the winning hero's literal interpretations of orders. 

 
  Connections  

• Read The Amazing Russian Vixen: Russian folk tales by Elvira Yurchenkoo-Jones. Then Create a Venn Diagram and compare with Bearhead. 

• Students will discuss and make a list of the character traits of Bearhead and use text evidence to support their thinking. Then they will create a T-Chart of external traits and internal traits. 

• Students will read Eric Kimmel's Baba Yaga: A Russian Folktale. Students will then take the time to find Russia on a map then explore the culture of the country and create a Flipgrid of one thing that they learned.