Born December 25, 1948 in Orekhovo-Zuyeno near Moscow, illustrator Gennady Spirin showed artistic talent from an early age. Beginning at the age of 10, Spirin studied at the Surikov School of Fine Art at the Academy of Arts in Moscow and the Moscow Stroganov Insitutue of Art, thanks to the emotional and finanlical support of his grandmother. Spirin developed a unique style in art school, a combination of watercolors and the Russian art tradition, which he uses to illustrate children's books with "fairy-tale realism". Upon graduation, Spirin went into children's literature to avoid the state-mandated socialist realism of the Soviet Union. This decision allowed his work to gain international appeal, and Spirin was able to move with his family to Princeton, New Jersey in the early 1990s. 

Koshchei the Deathless (Immortal) battling Ivan-Tsarevitch in The Tale of the Firebird

Witches appear in many forms throughout all sorts of fairy and folk tales: powerful women who can help or harm. In Russia and much of the former Soviet Union, this character is Baba Yaga (or, in Poland, Jandza) . Her motifs include riding a flying mortar and pestle, living in a house on chicken legs, and having human skulls as household decoration. Depending on the tale, she may eat an unruly child or provide housing for the lost heroine (in return for chores). She's a confounding figure, with conflicting characteristics or reports of existence depending on where in the Eastern Slavic area you are. Some communities viewed her as a demon, spirit, mythological figure, or pure fantasy. Beyond this, to be "a Baba Yaga" is to adhere to a tale and character type, and many stories feature a trio of sisters all bearing the name.

From The Frog Princess in Polish Fairy Tales