Fairy tales are as old as human speech and exist inall nations. This spread all over the world is the result of the existence of many versions of the same fairy tale. The emphasis of the theoretical part of the diploma thesis is on versions of fairy tales with the motif of Baba Yaga. Theoretical aspects of fairy tales as a literary type, its role and purpose in the upbringing of children and the development path of the folk tales, classical and modern through to the present fantastic (fairy tale) story that is often referred to as a modern fairy tale are also presented. The characteristics of Russian fairy tales are presented as the character of evil witch Baba Yaga occurs in a number of Russian fairytales. In the practical part of the thesis are described Croatian language lessons in the third grade of primary school where pupils read versions of fairy tales with the motif of Baba Yaga and classic fairy tale Beautiful Vasilisaand contemporary fairy tale Baba Yaga and giant Oblivion. The goal of the lessons was to determine whether pupils notice the differences between fairy tales with the motif of Baba Yaga in the terms of content and motif level and to compare the pupils' reception of those fairy tales. It can be concluded that pupils notice similarities and differences between the versions of fairy tales successfully. A comparison of pupils' reception indicates that pupils accept equally the classic fairy tale Beautiful Vasilisaand contemporary fairy tale Baba Yaga and giant Oblivion. Their main criteria of preference are: happy ending, instructive fairy tale motifs that provoke tension and surprise.