Dear Jeanne, My hobby is collecting dolls. I've got a matryoshka with a painting of the "Snow Maiden" on each doll. Can you tell me more about the Snow Maiden? Spotlight on Russia tells a traditional story, "Snegurochka", or "The Snow Maiden", is a well-known Russian folk tale. Here's our favourite version, Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden) An old man and his wife had no children. They were very sad about this. "Let's make a child out of snow," said the man one day. They made a pretty snow-girl. "Look!" said the woman. "Her lips are red and her eyes are open!" The snow-girl was alive! The old couple were very happy. They called their new daughter Snegurochka. She was kind and polite. But she was pale and shy. Summer came. Snegurochka was not well. "Go out to play," her parents said. They were worried.