- and Yunaya Rossiya [Young Russia] (1906–1918). Small children also had their
own magazines.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, around 500 children’s books appeared per
year; at the threshold of the First World War, the number had been doubled.
Unprecedentedly popular was Lidiya Charskaya, the prolific writer of melodramatic
stories for girls about life in boarding schools, and adventures in the Caucasus or in
historical times. In the shadow of Charskaya, Klavdiya Lukashevich wrote sentimental
works for a wide range of readers.
While women writers did not fear romance and adventures, a gloomy naturalism and
an insufficient adaptation to children’s tastes were characteristic of many men. The new
generation of realists loved to depict maltreated children from the lower strata of society
—or maltreated animals. For Nikolai Teleshov it was important to show that his
homeless heroes nevertheless encounter much kindness. Using his own experiences,
Aleksei Svirsky portrayed in Ginger (1901– 1902) an orphan, who roams around Russia
until he finds his place in the community of workers. In Ivan Shmelyov’s stories,
children and adults with different social backgrounds are brought together, while
Aleksandr Kuprin praised the friendship between children and animals in moving tales
like ‘The white poodle’ (1904) and ‘The elephant’ (1907). The favourite reading of the
Russian boys were, however, weekly detective magazines with Sherlock Holmes, Nick
Carter and Nat Pinkerton as the heroes.
The modernists also took an interest in children’s literature. Leading artists attributed
to the development of the picture book. The magazine Tropinka [The Path] (1906–1912)
was close to the symbolists. With a linguistic and rhythmic brilliance they brought
nature to life in their children’s poems and cultivated mystical themes. In two small
books of children’s verse, Aleksandr Blok revealed an interest in folk poetry. Love of
childhood and children’s imaginations characterised the poetry of Mariya Moravskaya
and Sasha Chorny. Even as an émigré, Chorny continued to write cheerful children’s
verse.
The interest that Russian pedagogues took in children’s literature at the beginning of
the twentieth century indicates a growing prestige. The first substantial book on the
history and theory of Russian children’s literature appeared in 1907. Special journals
offered recommendations for children’s reading. The critic Kornei Chukovsky tried to
awake an awareness of the ‘dangers’ of mass produced children’s literature. Ten years
later he was himself to set up a new standard for children’s literature under completely
different circumstances.
Only a few months after the October revolution, the first demands were made that
children’s literature should be put in the service of communist ideology. The state was to
take responsiblity for children’s reading and replace private publishing houses and
‘bourgeois’ magazines with revolutionary institutions. The Bolsheviks received valuable
support from Maksim Gorky, editor of the first Soviet children’s magazine, Severnoe
siyanie [Northern Lights] (1919–1920).
The New Economic Politics gave writers a breathing space. For a few years it was
possible to pursue an independent literary policy. When Raduga [The Rainbow]
published a verse tale by Kornei Chukovsky in 1923, this marked the beginning of a
decade which can be called the Golden Age of Russian children’s literature. A group of
760 THE WORLD OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE