Egg & Spoon

By: Gregory Maguire

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. Her brothers have been conscripted into the Tsar's army and taken as servants in the house of the local wealthy landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in St. Petersburg - a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena's age. When the two girls' lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an adventure that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and - in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured - Baba Yaga, the witch of Russian folklore, in her moving house perched on chicken legs.

©2014 Gregory Maguire, original book published by Candlewick Press (P) (P) 2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award, Teens, 2015

Best Tale Ever

ok. Maybe not ever, but it was fantastic. I really enjoyed this book more than his others. I also loved the weaving of just enough reality to carry the tale along. I am going to miss the characters.

Long

Really great story, but very detailed. There are small chunks that I didn't actually listen to. My mind wandered... I got distracted... whatever. I didn't need to rewind and find where I was. I could pick the story back up without missing much.

Another winner

McGuire gives as another treasure. With young girls as the protagonists, this story may appeal to teens as well as adults of all ages.

Indeed quite the most intriguing book!

Indeed quite the most magical & spectacular book my mom and I enjoyed listening to while we rode in her sharp new sporty S.U.V. ....Thank you again to me beautiful sister Sally Louise for introducing us to the magic of Auditable!! ~Miss Billie Jo~

Dynamic performance of some great characters

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Everything came together in a nice, tidy way - just like a fairy tale should.

What about Michael Page’s performance did you like?

All of the characters were unique. Page portrayed the deranged Baba Yaga energetically, with hysterical results. Baba Yaga's cat, Mewster, was sly and sardonic. The performance throughout was elevated by lively and hilarious dialogue.

So much fun

Very smart sort of a fairy tale. Favorite character is the witch. You learn something about Russian folklore. Brilliant narrator

Wonderful listen!

The characters of this story are brought to vibrant life by the narration. Baba Yaga’s voice will live long in my imagination, Honey Buckets!

Maguire can do less dark

A very nice story of dreams and magic and coincidental family in the Russian palaces and wildernesses, with that Maguire mysticism but almost none of the usual debauchery. Not that debauchery is a bad thing - but it's nice to branch outward. The story seems to fall into two halves, the first a political and whimsical tale and the second a fantastic magical journey, though in actuality the distinction is not so...distinct. Still the delineation is visible - I think in the book the latter starts at "part 4". Baba Yaga is a delight throughout as are the two young girl protagonists. Elena's participation in the second half of the journey seems oddly suppressed, not sure why that had to be the case although she is at least a decent conveyance of sentimentality. Anyway thoroughly enjoyable. Excellent narrator too some real impressive voicing.

If Mark Twain had been Russian...

He might well have twisted Russian folklore to tell a story much like Egg & Spoon - witty, charming, a little food for thought, and just plain fun. I don't know why this book is listed as "Teens" because like the best of "fairy tales" or fables, this is a fantasy yarn that could be enjoyed by any age listener and the ultimate hero is Baba Yaga (yes, you heard me, scary old Baba Yaga saves the day), who is ancient! The story is a bit slow picking up speed in the beginning as the characters are introduced, but gets fun and adventuresome fairly soon. I think if I had actually read the book, I would also think some of the length could be edited. However, listening to this book performed by Michael Page is a real delight - what an artist! So, the length in the audio book is not a problem. I'm SO glad Audible had this on a Daily Deal because the teen classification might have caused me to miss it otherwise.

Enjoyed this

EXCELLENT NARRATION. Clever, witty, funny and touching story. Best part: the ending. Loved the characters of Baba Yaga and familiar.