The Frog Princess
by Jeff Siamon

The story is adapted from a traditional Russian fairy tale. It’s another version of the ugly duckling.
xxxThe Czar, Ivan the Unbearable, has decreed that his three sons must marry. (He’s not very fond of his sons.) And so he has devised a test for his sons to choose their brides. Each son will shoot an arrow into the forest. The women closest to these arrows will possibly become their wives. He intends to challenge each of the prospective brides to see if they are fit to be princesses.
xxxPrince Sascha, Ivan‘s most disliked son, is afraid he will do something wrong and so he enlists the help of Kolnikov, the magician. But Kilnikov’s magic doesn’t always work. Sascha’s arrow strikes a frog who magically can speak.The Frog is really Vassilisa, the Sea King’s daughter. Her father punished her after a family quarrel by making her a frog.
xxxSascha hates his choice, thinking her too ugly to appear in court. It is only after she is kidnapped by Baba Yaga, the most powerful and feared witch in all of Russia, that he sets out to save her. That's when he realizes her true worth. In the end, she escapes her father’s curse and becomes Sascha’s princess.