National Electronic Children’s Library: A Living History of Russian Children’s Literature

National Electronic Children’s Library: A Living History of Russian Children’s Literature Ilya Gavrishin (bio) Translated by Sofia Kazakova The civilian font introduced in Russia in 1708 by Peter the Great for printing secular publications opened the way for literature as a leisure activity. But the creation of literature specifically intended for children took almost another half century. By the end of the eighteenth century, the number of publications for children in Russia was estimated at three hundred. More than 75 percent were translations, mainly from French and German. The dominant genre was moralizing and took the form of a conversation between one of the elders and the children, which often turned into a sermon. The most important influence on Russian children’s literature was exerted by N. I. Novikov, when in 1779 he moved to Moscow and began to publish books for children, among other publications. Only under the influence of his work did the Russian book became not a luxury item but a necessity for every literate person. However, the main merit of the publisher regarding children’s literature was the publication in 1785 of the first children’s magazine, which had no foreign counterparts—Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind. After Novikov, the tone of children’s literature began to change. The desire to teach was gradually replaced by the desire to spread the ideas of enlightenment through fun. Fables were particularly developed in children’s education through such fabulists as I. A. Krylov and I. I. Chemnitzer. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the profession of writing for children appeared and the number of translated books decreased as works in Russian became more prominent. Children’s books and magazines became an indispensable educational tool, the literary qualities of works for children were improving significantly, and the design of children’s publications was developing rapidly. Black-and-white prints appeared in books and magazines, then color illustrations. Printing and publishing houses were formed, some of which survived the 1917 revolution. These were the publishers of Sytin, Stupin, Wolf, Devrien, and Sablin. All major publishers produced books that were available to buyers with all levels of income. Books with illustrations by famous Russian artists—Vasnetsov, Polenova, Bilibin, and others—are still being reprinted. [End Page 72] Literature for children of the post-revolutionary period acquired fundamentally different features, boldly experimenting with the language and design of books. Some authors and artists of the children’s books of that time went down in history—such as Marshak, Chukovsky, Mikhalkov, Harms, Mayakovsky, Barto, Bianchi, Gaidar, Lebedev, Konashevich, Dobuzhinsky, Petrov-Vodkin, Rotov, and Charushin—but most creators of books for children and teenagers of that time are forgotten. Soviet power quickly realized the importance of periodicals in the development of class consciousness. In 1925, the publication of the all-Union children’s newspaper Pionerskaya Pravda began. This was a weekly snapshot of world and Soviet history, which is especially interesting to study today. From 1924 to this day, the magazine Murzilka has been published; from 1930 to June 1941, the magazine ChIZh; and since 1936, the magazine Koster. An important role in improving the quality of children’s literature was played by the literary criticism journal Children’s Literature, published from 1936 to 2004, with a break from 1942 to 1965. During World War II, much children’s literature was published, including propaganda literature (for example, Blitz Fritz by Marshak with illustrations by Kukryniksy). Since the late 1930s, filmstrips have been incredibly popular in the USSR. The huge variety and quality of material performance are fascinating; filmstrips were drawn by famous illustrators such as Losin, Chizhikov, Arkhipov, Diodorov, Duvidov, and others. These include folk tales (more than twenty-five peoples of Russia, more than thirty peoples of the world) and author’s tales (Pushkin, Bazhov, Grimm, Perrault, Andersen, Gauf, etc.), filmstrips based on the stories and poems of favorite writers, filmstrips about the war, and filmstrips that were both cognitive and entertaining. This very brief excursion into the history of Russian children’s literature is not accidental. The National Electronic Children’s Library (NECL) provides access to publications of all the above eras and types. For...