This groundbreaking anthology presents a century of Russian writing for childrenfrom the Soviet era to the presentbringing together classic and contemporary works, many translated into English for the first time, in a richly curated volume that is both academically informed and fully accessible to children, parents, and adult readers alike.
A Hundred Years of Childhood: An Anthology of Russian Writing for Children, 1917-2017 is the first of two volumes featuring works for children and teens in English translation, many for the first time. Volume One focuses on literature for younger children; it includes short pieces and excerpts from longer works, combining poetic and prose texts written by thirty-six renowned childrens authors from the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Eighteen translators contributed to the anthology, bringing a rich range of voices to the English-language texts. This book will appeal to a wide range of readers, including teachers and students of Slavic studies, childhood studies, caregivers and parents of young children, and anyone interested in Russian childrens literature and culture.
Arvustused
A Hundred Years of Childhood is a unique anthology of Russian childrens literature both in its temporal scope and in its selection of poetic and prose texts. High-quality translation considers all of the nuances the English-speaking reader will encounter as they become familiar with these texts. The editors of this collection were able to show what tasksgenre, aesthetic, and socialthe literature set for itself throughout the centuries. The anthology is a priceless resource for researchershistorians, cultural studies scholars, and literary scholarsbut it is equally interesting to a wide circle of readers, for whom the translation serves as a bridge to understanding another culture.
Dr. Marina Balina, Isaac Funk Professor Emerita of Russian Studies. Illinois Wesleyan University
Despite its academic appeal, this anthology of the last one hundred years of Russian childrens literature has a very good chance of becoming a book that you will read to your children and grandchildren before bedtime, and that they will secretly read after you put them to bed. There are three reasons for this. It is filled with true gems handpicked by editors from the rich legacy of Soviet childrens literature. It is enhanced by the best examples of post-Soviet writings for children. It is conveyed into English by truly congenial translations. All in all, these texts will make you and your kids laugh and think about the most interesting and serious things in the worldfrom games and toys to revolutions, nature, family, school, friends, history and the future. Teaching classes with this book will be a sheer pleasure for students and professors alike. I envy them already.
Dr. Mark Lipovetsky, Professor and Chair, Department of Slavic Languages. Columbia University
Across the one-hundred-year period that began with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, childrens literature written in Russian has encapsulated the hopes and aspirations of a far-flung society caught in a maelstrom of social and political change. This thoughtfully curated treasury of writings in translation by thirty-six notable authors for young people immerses readers in a deeply serious and often exhilarating literary tradition that, in all its many moods and permutations, has continually homed in on the core concerns that fuel childrens imaginations.
Dr. Leonard S. Marcus, Childrens book historian and critic
A Hundred Years of Childhood: An Anthology of Russian Writing for Children, 1917-2017 is an insightfully framed collection of charming stories and poems from the Russian-speaking world that bring moments from one hundred tumultuous years of history into sharp focus through the lens of childrens literature. The array of poems and stories selected for the collection speak powerfully for themselves through varied, charming, and inspired new translations that grant access to these stories for contemporary English-speaking audiences. At the same time, the carefully curated anthology richly situates authors and illustrators within their own complex contexts and also includes imagery from original book publications in a variety of styles. This anthology will appeal to popular audiences of all ages and will prove a useful tool for teaching Russian-language childrens literature and culture in English-speaking contexts.
Dr. Sara Pankenier Weld, Professor, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies. University of California, Santa Barbara
Thanks to this new book, one hundred years of Russian childrens literature comes alive in sparkling English translation. Olga Bukhina, Kelly Herold, and Andrea Lanoux contextualize Soviet and post-Soviet texts with helpful and intelligent introductions. Beloved classics and exciting new voices in Russian childrens literature can all be found hereand enjoyed by parents, children, teachers, and students.
Dr. Megan Swift, Professor of Russian Studies. University of Victoria
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
Introduction: The Enduring Power of Childrens Literature in Times of Social
Change
Chapter
1. For Fun and Education (1917-1932)
Kornei Chukovsky
Roach the Terrible
Osip Mandelstam
Two Trams
Vladimir Mayakovsky
What Is Good and What Is Bad
Vitaly Bianki
The Owl
Samuil Marshak
Baggage
Daniil Kharms
Mr. Golden Samovar
Ivan van Littleaxe
Alexander Vvedensky
Who?
Chapter
2. Heroes and Victims (1933-1953)
Boris Zhitkov
Yashka [ excerpt]
Nikolai Zabolotsky
The Tale of the One-Eyed Little Man
Mikhail Zoshchenko
The New Year Tree
How Lenin Tricked the Police
Sergei Mikhalkov
Uncle Styopa
Daniil Kharms
Why Dont We Write a Story?
A Man Left His House
Once There Was a Little Man
Vitaly Bianki
The Little Ant Who Hurried Home
Alexey Tolstoy
The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino [ excerpts]
Carlo Makes a Wooden Doll and Names It Buratino
Buratino Sells His Textbook and Buys a Ticket to the Puppet Show
On His Way Home Buratino Runs into Two Swindlers Basilio the Cat and Alice
the Fox
Alexander Vvedensky
Lullaby
Agnia Barto
The House That Moved
They Left
Off to School
Chapter
3. Ordinary Children, Extraordinary Lives (1954-1988)
Boris Zakhoder
Kittys Sorrow
Hedgehog
Cooks
No One
The Termites Diet
Veniamin Kaverin
Many Good People and One Envious One [ excerpts]
Tanya Sets Out for the Blue Globe Pharmacy
Petya Takes a Pill for Cowardice and Becomes Brave
The Great Envier
Agnia Barto
Bedtime
Alexander Raskin
How Papa Chose His Profession
Viktor Dragunsky
The Main Rivers
Viktor Golyavkin
On the Balcony
Kir Bulychev
Bronty
Emma Moshkovskaya
I Was Very Mean to My Mommy
Clever Old Ladies
Tales of Little Goat and Little Donkey [ excerpt]
The Second Tale
Eduard Uspensky
Uncle Fedya, His Dog, and His Cat [ excerpts]
Chapter
1. Uncle Fedya
Chapter
2. In the Country
Chapter
3. New Worries
Genrikh Sapgir
Wonder Woods
The Princess and the Ogre
Sergei Kozlov
Hedgehog in the Fog
Hedgehog, Bearcub, and the Dust on the Stars
Oleg Grigoriev
Something Crawled onto the Table
My Bicycle Carried Me Away
A Boy Bought Some Bread at the Store
Irina Pivovarova
We Searched the World Both Far and Wide
When
Teeny Tiny Pony
The Violin
Chapter
4. New Russia, New Stories (1989-2017)
Grigory Oster
Horrible Advice: A Book for Disobedient Children and Their Caregivers
[ excerpts]
Caught red-handed by your mother
If youre racing down the hallway
Your parents have gone out again
Washing hands and knees and toes
When your mom insists on dragging you
Those whove not jumped off their roof
Remember kids, if you are lost
Mikhail Yasnov
Kitty-cat and Ratty-rat
Us and Birds
Autumn Grandpa
A Little Tree with Wings
Sergei Sedov
Tales about a Boy Named Alex [ excerpts]
Andrei Usachev
Smart Dog Sonya [ excerpts]
Kings Pooch
Puddle
Hello, Thank You, Goodbye!
How Sonya Learned about Electricity
The Stain
How Sonya Lost Everything
Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Piglet Peter Drives a Car
Piglet Peter at the Store
Artur Givargizov
Notes of a Distinguished F Student [ excerpts]
The Faculty Meeting
A Missed Lesson
How Sergei Lost all Respect on September 9, in Gym Class
Generals [ excerpts]
A General Divulging Military Secrets
A General Reviewing His Troops
A General on an Island
Dina Sabitova
Circus in a Treasure Box [ excerpts]
Chapter 1: How the Carouselli Circus Lost Its Clown, and Adelaida the Horse
Lost Her Éclair
Chapter 8: How Marik Nearly Met His End but Was Saved
Mikhail Esenovsky
The Essential Spy Question [ excerpts]
Narine Abgaryan
Semion Andreich: The Scribble Chronicles [ excerpts]
Semion Andreich Celebrates a Birthday
Semion Andreich and the Sound sh
Semion Andreich Goes Skiing
Masha Rupasova
In the Old Days
I Am News
Jam
Great-grandmother
Anastasia Orlova
This Is Truck, and This Is Trailer
Translators Biographies
Alphabetical List of Authors and Titles in Russian
Additional Resources
Bibliography
List of Copyrights
Olga Bukhina is a translator, writer, and childrens literature specialist who has translated over forty books for children and teens. In addition, she is the co-author of Growing Out of Communism: Russian Literature for Children and Teens, 19912017 (Brill-Schøningh 2022, Russian translation by Bukhina, 2024), as well as the author of Zhizn i smert: Samye vaznye voprosy detskoi literatury (Life and Death: The Most Important Issues in Childrens Literature, KompasGid 2024).
Kelly Herold is a professor of Russian at Grinnell College, where she teaches courses on Tolstoy, Nabokov, the Russian novel and short story, fairy tales, childrens literature, as well as the Russian language. She is the co-author of Growing Out of Communism: Russian Literature for Children and Teens, 19912017 (English, 2022; Russian translation by Olga Bukhina, 2024).
Andrea Lanoux holds the Elizabeth S. Kruidenier 48 endowed professorship in Slavic Studies at Connecticut College. Her research focuses on Russian childrens literature (Growing Out of Communism: Russian Literature for Children and Teens, 19912017, co-authored with Olga Bukhina and Kelly Herold), as well as women and gender in Slavic cultures (Gender and National Identity in Russian Culture, co-edited with Helena Goscilo, 2006). She teaches Russian language at all levels, as well as courses in Slavic studies, global studies, and an undergraduate research seminar on Ukraine.
