Verotchka's Tales

A tender collection of animal tales told from within a dream. Young Verotchka drifts off to sleep as her father begins to spin stories about the woodland creatures beyond her window, and the tales unfold around her sleeping mind like a gentle cascade. We meet Cock-Eye, a boastful rabbit whose courage is tested when danger arrives, and Little Cacinella, a small insect navigating the vast world around her. There are cheerful canaries and wise turkeys, each character bumping up against their fears and limitations in ways that feel urgent and real within the small scope of these pages. The humor is playful, the dialogue sprightly, but beneath the whimsical surface lies something quieter and more precious: a father and daughter sharing the ancient ritual of story, the tales themselves becoming a kind of bridge between waking and dreaming, between the safe world of the bedroom and the wild one beyond. First published in 1922 with striking illustrations by Boras M. Artzybasheff, these stories have the gentle staying power of a lullaby passed down through generations.