Children's Literature

works of fiction, including fictional science literature, and popular science written especially for children of preschool age to secondary school age.

In the USSR children’s literature has become one of the major branches of literature, bringing together the literary forces of the peoples of all the republics. Like adult literature, Soviet children’s literature deals with a wide variety of questions in the life of the people and especially of the children, but in a form corresponding to the age level of the reader, of course. Fiction for children deals with many themes and appears in many genres, and fictional scientific literature explains all branches of knowledge. Children’s literature has been developed on a scientifically pedagogical basis, and publishing plans are organized according to age level, subject, and genre. A wide range of works for adults that have become established items on children’s reading lists are usually included in the category of children’s literature—above all, works from folklore and the classics.

The adult works commonly read by Russian children include the fairy tales and poems of A. S. Pushkin, the ballads of V. A. Zhukovskii, the fables of I. A. Krylov, and the verses and narrative poems of M. Iu. Lermontov. Some other favorite poets include N. A. Nekrasov, T. G. Shevchenko, Sh. Rustaveli, V. V. Mayakovsky, N. S. Tikhonov, la. Kupala, la. Kolas, M. V. Isakovskii, A. A. Surkov, A. T. Tvardovskii, K. M. Simonov, and R. Gamzatov. Also widely read are the short stories and novellas of N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, I. A. Goncharov, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, V. G. Korolenko, V. M. Garshin, N. G. Garin, A. I. Kuprin, A. N. Tolstoy, M. A. Sholokhov, A. A. Fadeev, D. A. Furmanov, M. M. Prishvin, K. G. Paustovskii, B. S. Zhitkov, V. P. Kataev, N. A. Ostrovskii, L. S. Sobolev, and B. N. Polevoi.

Some books are popular with children virtually all over the world; for example, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, D. Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, J. Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, R. E. Raspe’s Baron Münchausen’s Narrative of His Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, and Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel (all usually in abridged editions). Other favorites are Uncle Tom’s Cabin by H. Beecher Stowe, The True Story of a Little Ragamuffin by J. Greenwood, Nobody’s Boy by H. Malot, The Gadfly by E. Voinich, the stories of E. Seton-Thompson, L. Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and Mark Twain’s novels; also, the novels of W. Scott, C. Dickens, J. Verne, and F. Cooper and the fairy tales of H. C. Andersen, C. Perrault, the brothers Grimm, and W. Hauff. English poetry is especially rich in verses for children, and the traditions of folklore for children are especially strong in England in comparison with other countries. Many prominent writers have produced works for children—for example, in Poland, H. Sienkiewicz, M. Konopnicka, J. Tuwim, and J. Korczak; in Bulgaria, Elrn Pelin; and in Czechoslovakia, M. Majerova and J. Pleva. In many countries the tales of the Swedish writer A. Lindgren and the merry verses and tales of the progressive Italian writer G. Rodari are popular.

In the past, with a few exceptions, the artistic level of literature written for children was considerably lower than that of adult literature. The main deficiencies in children’s books in many countries were their sentimentality, the primitive nature of their plots and characters, and their obtrusive didacticism. Many books were steeped in chauvinistic attitudes or religious values that they attempted to instill in their readers. Books for children of peasants and workers, aside from works of folklore, were usually cheaply made and of poor quality. In capitalist countries, especially the USA, low-quality detective literature has become especially widespread, exerting a corrupting influence upon young readers.

In Russia, books for children began to be published in the 18th century. The first Russian magazine for children, Detskoe chtenie dlia serdtsa i razuma (1785-89), was initiated by N. I. Novikov. He was a pioneer of popular science for children in Russian. Such leading figures in Russian culture as A. S. Pushkin, V. G. Belinskii, N. A. Dobroliubov, and N. G. Chernyshevskii combated the lack of ideas and artistic qualities in the children’s literature of their time.

An important milestone in the development of Russian children’s literature was the New Alphabet series (1875) and the four Russian Readers (books 1-4; 1875-85) by L. N. Tolstoy included in that series. Especially important principles in Tolstoy’s works were his concern that he express a sense of identification with the people in his children’s literature and that he find an artistic means to communicate with children through literature. During the same years, the outstanding educator K. D. Ushinskii wrote short stories especially adapted for children. In the 19th and early 20th century N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Pleshcheev, A. N. Maikov, la. P. Polonskii, and A. A. Blok wrote poetry for children. Russian writers of fairy tales, short stories, and novellas for children in the same period included V. F. Odoevskii, V. I. Dal’, A. A. Pogorel’skii, D. V. Grigorovich, K. M. Staniukovich, D. N. Mamin-Sibiriak, A. P. Chekhov, A. S. Serafimovich, A. I. Kuprin, and A. I. Svirskii. The Ukrainian writers M. Kotsiubinskii and Lesia Ukrainka and the Armenian poet O. Tumanian also wrote for children. All of these writers attempted to counterpose their work to the reactionary and purely commercial trend in children’s literature.

In the Soviet period, children’s literature faced new tasks of enormous importance. They were the logical outcome of Lenin’s recommendation that “the entire purpose of training, educating, and teaching the youth of today should be to imbue them with communist ethics” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 41, p. 309). Writers were called upon to find new forms of expression for the new themes, basing themselves on the experience of the realistic school in literature.

At the fountainhead of Soviet children’s literature stand M. Gorky and N. K. Krupskaia. They played a role of tremendous importance in gathering the forces to produce children’s literature, working out thematic plans, and fighting for the raising of the ideological and artistic levels of children’s literature. With the benefit of their untiring concern, children’s literature effectively solved the problem of showing the life of the people in a truthful way and clarifying the problems of the modern world and the class struggle. In later years, and for quite a long time, A. A. Fadeev made children’s literature a special concern of his.

Like adult literature, Soviet children’s literature reflects the different stages of Soviet history, with works on the Revolution, the Civil War, economic reconstruction, the fulfillment of the first five-year plans, the industrialization of the country, the collectivization of agriculture, the Great Patriotic War, and the years of building communism. But there is an essential difference between the early period of Soviet children’s literature and its later state. In the early years of Soviet power there were few children’s writers, and they were unable to take on the task of illuminating a whole range of important questions. As a result, children’s literature lagged behind real life. Moreover, theoretical confusion in defining the specific nature and tasks of children’s literature led to many prolonged problems, such as excessive “infantilism,” primitivism, artificial plots, and attempts of a number of writers to show life only through the eyes of a child hero. All of this lowered the artistic level of children’s literature.

A decisive change took place when highly talented writers began to participate. V. V. Mayakovsky brought social and political themes, embodied in truly artistic form, into children’s poetry. He revealed to children the meaning of the social struggle going on in the world and taught them to love labor, for example, in Firehorse (1927) and What To Be (1929). In his poem What Is Good and What Is Bad? (1925). the poet talks with his young readers about courage, justice, and industriousness.

Soviet children’s literature owes a lot to S. la. Marshak for many features of its development. His poetic, publishing-organizational, and editorial work hastened the flowering of literature for children and young people in the USSR. The emotional richness, humor, and dynamism of such works as The Fire (1923) and The Post Office (1927), which celebrated the nobility of şelfless labor, won the hearts of Marshak’s young readers. In 1924-25 he was in charge of the magazine Novyi Robinzon. In 1924 he became the head of the children’s department of the Unified State Publishing House and continued in this position for a number of years. A group of talented young poets, prose writers, scholars, and artists gathered around Marshak in the late 1920’s and in the 1930’s, many of whom later established permanent connections with children’s literature.

One of the first people to write for children in the Soviet period was K. I. Chukovskii. He fought against the static, limp verse of prerevolutionary children’s poetry and created in its place a kind of mischievous, rhythmically exact verse, with lilting rhymes, that he used in his tales for small children, such as The Crocodile (1917), Moidodyr (1923), and The Giant Roach (1923). After Chukovskii there were many Soviet children’s writers, among whom were A. Gaidar, A. Barto, V. Kataev, L. Kassil’, M. Prishvin, K. Paustovskii, S. Mikhalkov, R. Fraerman, Iu. Olesha, L. Voronkova, A. Musatov, L. Kvitko, A. Kozhevnikov, I. Vasilenko, V. Bianki, E. Charushin, O. Ivanenko, la. Mavr, and V. Oseeva. These writers learned to communicate with children of various ages in an interesting and readable manner about all the important things that have gone on or are going on in the world, in the country, within the family, in the pioneers organization, and in school.

In the 1930’s the themes of socialist construction and communist ethics predominated in children’s literature. Marshak, in his War with the Dnieper (1931), told about the building of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant. In his sharply satirical narrative poem Mister Twister (1933) he ridiculed the deformed and distorted life of the millionaire. Later on, Marshak wrote narrative poems about the heroism of the Soviet people in wartime (Military Mail, 1944) and in peacetime (Ice Island, 1947). A. Barto writes cheerful, often sharply satirical verses about Soviet children, their relationships with adults, and their attitudes toward their own affairs, for example in Zvenigorod (1948) and He Is Fourteen Years Old (1949). In the books of S. Mikhalkov, N. Nosov, Iu. Sotnik, and A. Aleksin, humor is accompanied by a concern with instructing children in the highest moral principles. Mikhalkov in his poem Uncle Stepa (1936) creates the memorable figure of the positive hero imbued with lofty moral qualities. A poetic vision of the world and love for the Soviet people, who are brave at work and in war—these are the lessons conveyed by the optimistic, lyrical poetry of such writers as Z. Aleksandrova, E. Blaginina, N. Zabila, E. Tarakhbvskaia, N. Sakonskaia, N. Konchalovskaia, B. Zakhoder, and I. Tokmakova.

The short stories and novellas of B. Zhitkov were of great importance to the development of the realistic trend in prose for children. His characters reveal their moral make-up in the difficult situations that show one’s true mettle. Two novellas, one by G. Belykh and L. Panteleev called The Republic of Shkid (1927) and one by L. Panteleev called Standing Guard (1928), deal with the way the lives of formerly homeless children changes under the influence of the reality of Soviet life. A. Makarenko’s Pedagogical Poem (1933-35), which has become a standard work for young readers, was especially important in the way it showed the complex process of reeducation of formerly homeless children and young offenders through labor, study, and self-discipline. At the same time, N. Ostrovskii’s celebrated novella How the Steel Was Tempered (1932-34) was added to the reading list for adolescents.

Young people whose characters were formed in the crucible of the first years of the Civil War are the theme of one of the most important books in Soviet children’s literature, A. Gaidar’s School (1930). Here, as in his other novellas (Faraway Countries, 1932; Military Secret, 1935; The Fate of a Drummer, 1939; and Chuk and Gek, 1939, for example), the themes of self-education and responsibility for one’s own actions are stressed consistently. Many of Gaidar’s novellas are filled with adventures, although they remain realistic. They show how character is formed under difficult conditions. The impact of his novella Timur and His Team (1941), which gave rise to the Timurite movement, testifies to the effectiveness of the best works in Soviet children’s literature.

The formation of character in Soviet youth is the subject of L. Kassil’s provocative books with their sharply stated themes, such as Conduit (1930), Shvambrania (1933), and Cheremysh, Brother of a Hero (1938). K. Paustovskii describes scenes of heroic labor in his Kara-bugaz (1932) and Kolkhida (1934). Lonely White Sail by V. Kataev (1936) is a novella devoted to revolutionary and historical themes. R. Fraerman discusses young people’s love and friendship with great psychological depth in Wild Dog Dingo, or A Tale of First Love (1939). The formation of a young person’s character in socialist society is described in V. Kaverin’s novel Two Captains (parts 1-2, 1940-45), which combines scenes from everyday life with adventure. The stories of V. Bianki and E. Charushin help to awaken young people’s love of nature and their native land.

With the coming of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, children’s literature faced the task of strengthening its civic inspiration with a special urgency. Two main themes became the center of attention for the writers of children’s literature: the heroism of the soldiers at the front and the heroism of the laboring people, including the young people, on the home front.

Two books written for adults quickly became young people’s favorites: The Young Guard (1945, revised 1951) by A. Fadeev and The Tale of a Real Man (1946) by B. Polevoi. V. Kataev’s Son of the Regiment (1945) tells of the people’s heroic struggle against the German fascist invaders. L. Kassil’ and M. Polianovskii compiled a documentary novel called Street of the Younger Son (1949) about a youthful reconnaissance man in a partisan detachment. L. Voronkova’s profound psychological novella about the humanism of the Soviet people, Girl From the City (1943), has been translated into many languages. Some novellas relate how children did the work of their fathers and brothers who had gone off to the front lines: My Dear Lads by L. Kassil’ (1944), I. Likstanov’s Little Man (1947), and V. Oseeva’s Vasek Trubachev and His Buddies (books 1-2, 1947-51). Since the war, the themes of labor, feats of patriotism, and the role children play in the good causes of their parents have been predominant in children’s literature. In the novella Little Star (1948), I. Vasilenko tells of the life of students at a trade school, and L. Voronkova’s novella The Village of Gorodishche (1947) and A. Musatov’s Stozhary (1948) describe the postwar countryside and reconstruction of the economy. Many writers with experience in teaching have written about the life of Soviet schoolchildren and the work of Soviet teachers, among them M. Prilezhaeva (The Youth of Masha Strogova and Your Comrades Are With You) and F. Vigdorova (My Class and Road to Life). Among the many writers whose novellas and tales deal with Soviet children and communist ethics and morality are V. Beliaev, S. Baruzdin, A. Batrov, L. Budogosskaia, Iu. Sotnik, la. Taits, E. Ryss, N. Pecherskii, R. Pogodin, Iu. Tomin, and Iu. lakovlev.

Biographical works about Lenin and his closest coworkers have been very important in training young readers in the spirit of communism. Some works of this nature written in the 1930’s were Tales of Lenin by A. Kononov, A. Golubeva’s novella about S. M. Kirov’s childhood, The Boy From Urzhum, stories about F. E. Dzerzhinskii by Iu. German, and S. Mstislavskii’s novella about N. E. Bauman’s life, entitled The Rook Is a Bird of Spring. An especially large number of books on historical-revolutionary subjects were written in the postwar years, particularly on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet state and the 100th anniversary of Lenin’s birth.

Material for children about Lenin is represented by the memoirs of N. K. Krupskaia, M. I. Ul’ianova, A. I. Ul’ianova-Elizarova, N. I. Veretennikov, G. M. Krzhizhanovskii, V. D. Bonch-Bruevich, and E. D. Stasova, as well as by the books Our Lenin by B. Polevoi and N. Zhukov, M. Prilezhaeva’s The Life of Lenin and her novellas Three Weeks of Rest and Remarkable Year, and Z. Voskresenskaia’s books A Mother’s Heart, Through the Icy Gloom, Meeting, and Morning. Other works on Lenin are Ballad of the Bolshevik Underground by E. Drabkina, A. Rut’ko’s Childhood on the Volga, V. Kataev’s The Little Iron Door in the Wall, L. Radishchev’s Your Whole Life Long, S. Dangulov’s Path, S. Mikhalkov’s In the Lenin Museum, L. Savel’ev’s Clock and Map of October, and S. Vinogradskaia’s Little Spark. The Children’s Literature Publishing House puts out a series called Historical-Revolutionary Library for the Schoolchild. It includes works elucidating the life and activities of Lenin’s co-workers and the struggle of the Communist Party against tsarism and for the dictatorship of the proletariat. Others who have written in the genre of historical and documentary stories are S. Golubov, S. Grigor’ev, S. Zlobin, N. Konchalovskaia, A. Slonimskii, and V. Shklovskii; and later, S. Alekseev, L. Voronkova, A. Gessen, and L. Rubinshtein. The autobiographical trilogy by A. Brushtein entitled The Road Goes Off Into the Distance, dealing with the events leading up to the 1905-07. revolution, has been especially popular.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, writers paid increased attention to the inner world of children and to their civic-mindedness. The formation of ethical feelings and principles in children and adolescents is the subject of N. Dubov’s novel Woe Unto One and some of his novellas, such as Fires on the River, Boy by the Sea, and Fugitive. Other writers who dealt with similar themes were S. Georgievskaia in the novella Adolescents, L. Voronkova in the novellas The Elder Sister and Personal Happiness, A. Kuznetsova in Komsomol Word of Honor and The World Has Many Roads, V. Kiselev in The Girl and the Bird Plane, A. Rybakov in The Adventures of Krosh and The Unknown Soldier, G. Fedoseev in By the Path of Experience and Pashka From Bear Ravine, and A. Aleksin in At the Same Time, Somewhere and My Brother Plays the Clarinet.

An enormous amount of work in collecting and adopting folk tales has been done for children by such writers as A. N. Tolstoy, D. Nagishkin, M. Bulatov, T. Gabbe, A. Liubarskaia, V. Vazhdaev, and A. Nechaev. Some of the most popular fairy tales composed by individual writers have been The Little Golden Key by A. Tolstoy, based on motifs from C. Collodi’s Pinocchio, Three Fat Men by Iu. Olesha, Tale of Mal’chish-Kibal’chish by A. Gaidar, and the fairy tale trilogy about Know-Nothing by N. Nosov.

Fictional scientific literature for Soviet children has been of major importance. The pioneers in this field were B. Zhitkov, M. Il’in, and L. Gumilevskii. M. Il’in’s Story of the Great Plan (1930) and Hills and People (1935), which were written for children and describe the first five-year plan, have also found wide acceptance among adult readers. Books on nature lore by V. Bianki, N. Plavil’shchikov, N. Mikhailov, G. Skrebitskii, I. Khalifman, and N. Sladkov have been very well received, as have been those dealing with science and technology by O. Pisarzhevskii, V. Bolkhovitinov, V. Pekelis, V. Veber, V. Zakharchenko, and Iu. Fialkov. Such prominent scientists as V. A. Obruchev and A. E. Fersman have also taken part in creating this type of science literature. Works about the science and technology of the future by G. Adamov, A. Beliaev, and A. Kazantsev opened up the genre of science fiction. Among those writing in this genre in the postwar years have been I. Efremov, V. Nemtsov, L. Platov, the brothers A. and B. Strugatskii, and N. Toman.

Works by writers from the Union republics and autonomous republics have also become standard reading for Soviet children. Among these are the Ukrainian writers P. Panch, N. Trublaini, P. Voron’ko, M. Stel’makh, V. Bychko, and Iu. Zbanatskii. Some other favorites are the Byelorussians Ia. Mavr, A. Iakimovich, and V. Dubovka; the Georgians N. Nakashidze, Maridzhan, and N. Dumbadze; the Armenians S. Kaputikian and V. Ananian; the Azerbaijanis S. Veliev and M. Dil’bazi; the Kazakh writers S. Mukanov and S. Begalin; the Turkmen writers B. Kerbabaev and K. Tangrykuliev; the Uzbeks K. Mukhammadi and Khakim Nazir; the Tadzhiks S. Aini and M. Mirshakar; the Estonian Eno Raud; the Moldavian E. Bukov; the Kirghiz Ch. Aitmatov and Sh. Beishenaliev; the Latvians Iu. Vanag, V. Luks, and A. Grigulis; the Lithuanians K. Kubilinskas and M. Slutskis; the Dagestanians R. Gamzatov and R. Rashidov; the Bashkirs M. Karim and A. Bikchentaev; the Tatar G. Gubai; the Mari K. Vasin; the Mordvinian N. Erkai; and the Yakut S. Danilov.

Magazines for children have played an important role in bringing together the best Soviet children’s writers. Among these have been Ezh (1928-35), Chizh (1930-41), Murzilka and Pioneer (both from 1924), Druzhnye rebiata (1927-53), and Koster (1936-47, revived in 1956).

The pioneer of Soviet playwrights for children was A. Brushtein. She organized many theaters for young audiences and wrote more than 60 plays. Others who have written for the children’s theater over the years have included S. Marshak, S. Mikhalkov, V. Kataev, V. Liubimova, A. Barto, E. Shvarts, V. Rozov, and T. Gabbe. In the USSR there is an especially large network of children’s theaters.

Young readers in the USSR can also enjoy many classical works and contemporary books from other countries that are published in translation. The new books are by authors from other socialist countries and contemporary progressive writers in the West. Soviet children’s literature and the principles upon which it is based constitute a new phenomenon in the history of world culture. It is the first such literature in the world to be truly “of the people.” In its ideological and artistic level, it ranks side by side with adult literature. It educates its readers in the spirit of revolutionary tradition and is a key part of the moral and ethical public education of the new generation. The Communist Party and the government of the USSR have untiringly demonstrated their concern for children’s literature. (See the statement adopted in 1969 by the Central Committee of the CPSU entitled On Measures for the Further Development of Soviet Children’s Literature.) Translations of the best examples of this literature are published in virtually all the world’s languages.

the largest specialized publishing house in the USSR, which publishes books for children and teen-agers. The Central Committee of the ACP (Bolshevik) founded it in 1933, and until 1963 it was known as the State Publishing House of Children’s Literature. M. Gorky took an active part in the organization and work of the publishing house. The advice and aid of N. K. Krupskaia, A. V. Lunacharskii, A. A. Fadeev, and S. la. Marshak contributed greatly to the progressive artistic and creative tradition that developed in the publishing house.

Children’s Literature publishes the classics of Russian and world literature, works of the peoples of the USSR, and books by Soviet writers and progressive contemporary writers abroad. It publishes in great quantity the books of the most popular Soviet children’s writers—S. Marshak, K. Chukovskii, A. Gaidar, S. Mikhalkov, L. Kassil’, A. Barto, M. Il’in, and N. Nosov. These books are illustrated by the finest graphic artists—V. Lebedev, V. Konashevich, V. Favorskii, Iu. Vasnetsov, E. Charushin, D. Shmarinov, and B. Dekhterev. In 1970, Children’s Literature issued 163,173,000 copies of 588 books. From 1933 to 1970 it published 2,645,000,000 copies of 17,103 books.

In 1969 it earned the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for its active contribution to the development of Soviet children’s literature. It created the House of Children’s Books, which studies the problems of children’s literature and children’s reading. It has a section in Leningrad, with a branch there of the House of Children’s Books.