Oddly enough, there are two excellent online exhibitions of vintage Russian children's books. I found them this morning, and then surfed through the scanned covers and pages with the kid. She seemed suitably impressed, but let's be real: most of the enjoyment comes from discovering some pretty spectacular art and graphic design.
So far, only two complete books have been scanned. Fortunately, one is the 1931 Parad Krasnoi Armii (The parade of the Red Army). It looks like a silkscreened or woodblock print, can't quite tell, but we both loved counting soldiers, tanks, and nurses in gas masks, and generally celebrating the all-powerful glory of the Revolution. Can't wait to see how that turns out.
"Soviet Children's Picture Books of the Twenties and Thirties", at the International Institute of Social History [iisg.nl]
"Children's Books of the Early Soviet Era," at McGill University Library [library.mcgill.ca]
Both of these came from PK's blog BiblioOdyssey blog, which is itself a giant timesink of visual enjoyment.
1 Comment
Those nurses or shot putters? Check out those legs!
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