On the edge of a dark forest lives the gentle and beautiful Vasilisa, in a house made miserable by her jealous stepmother and stepsisters. Deep within the same gloomy woods lives the witch Baba Yaga, in a house built with her victims' bones.

One night Vasilisa'a stepmother orders her to find Baba Yaga's hut and bring back a candle to light their home. It is an errand from which she has little hope of returning alive, yet Vasilisa bravely ventures into the forbidding forest. For protection she bears only her favorite doll, a token of her true mother's love. The tale of how this clever orphan outwits the fearsome Baba Yaga and overcomes her cruel stepmother will captivate readers of all ages.