The Twelve Months

Brenda Baltensperger is a playwright, a director of children’s
theatre, an editor of children’s fiction, and the author of Fractured
Fairy-tales.

No matter how hard Marushka works for her cruel aunt and cousin Holena,
they are never satisfied. Marushka, however, enjoys her chores and
delights in the seasons. In the dead of winter, Holena, determined to be
rid of Marushka, demands that her cousin bring her violets or she need
never return home. Despite her pleas, Marushka is sent out into the snow
and the door bolted behind her.

Marushka climbs to the top of the mountain where she encounters 12 men
sitting around a fire. When she tells them about her impossible task,
the eldest man tells her that they are the Seasons. Taking pity on her,
Winter asks Spring to melt the snow. Violets appear and after Marushka
has gathered them, she thanks the Seasons for their compassion and
returns home, much to the dismay of her cousin and aunt. Instead of
being grateful, they send Marushka on two successive missions to secure
strawberries and apples. After her aunt and cousin have consumed the
apples, they decide to go to the mountain top themselves and gather as
many apples as they can. Because of their rudeness and greed, the
Seasons leave Marushka’s aunt and cousin to perish in the cold.

Meanwhile Marushka saves the 12 seeds from the apple cores left behind
by her relatives and plants them. Eventually, an orchard grows and
Marushka invites her neighbors to share the harvest.

Well written by Rafe Martin and beautifully illustrated by Vladyana
Langer Krykorka, this enjoyable folk tale is highly recommended.