Scientific fiction for children. The specifics of educational literature for children

Scientific and fiction literature for children is one of many domestic inventions in the field of culture, as unique as the "Russian classical novel". This type of cognitive literature literally flourished in our country in the 30s of the twentieth century thanks to the efforts of the editor, poet and translator S. Ya. Marshak.

Through the efforts of domestic authors and editors, science in such books met with poetry, technology with art, giving rise to full-fledged works of art. In these books there are adventures of a special kind - the adventures of thought. We offer a review of several such books, which was compiled by the children's writer and editor of the almanac "I want to know everything" Sergey Iv. Ivanov.

Jan Larry. "Adventures of Karik and Vali"

This sci-fi tale (and at the same time a fascinating treatise on the life of insects - entomology, botany and ecology) was written by a former homeless child, journalist and biologist by education, Ian Larry, commissioned by Marshak and was first published in 1937. Since then, it has been constantly reprinted.

Having secretly drunk the elixir created by an entomologist neighbor, brother and sister Karik and Valya shrunk to the size of a pinhead and found themselves in the mysterious world of insects. The dragonfly takes them to the pond, where the children fall into the bell of an underwater spider, and, freed from captivity, they collide with other inhabitants of reservoirs, meadows and soil. They are fighting an aggressive bear, get acquainted with beetles and aphids, carnivorous plants. The inventor of the elixir, reduced after them, helps children get rid of dangers, teaches them (and readers) to find edible plants, survive in extreme conditions, and, most importantly, introduces in detail the small living organisms around us. The story is filled with adventure, gentle humor and imbued with respect for the "knowledgeable person."

Vitaly Bianchi. "Forest Newspaper"

In book form, Lesnaya Gazeta was first published in 1928. The book is constantly reprinted in different editions.

Bianchi explores the world of wildlife with the help of newspaper genres: reportage, news, telegram, announcement, feuilleton. The characters of the "Forest Newspaper", as in a fairy tale, speak the "human language", argue, reason, and tell about their lives. At the same time, there is nothing fabulous in the content of the book: every fact from the life of animals and plants is scientifically accurate.

The calendar organizes the whole narrative: the book describes the annual cycle in the life of nature. It is divided into chapters by month and shows the reader the inextricable connection between celestial phenomena (the Earth's orbital movement) and the natural world.

Bianchi's works are also close to us because he tells about the nature of his native land - the Russian North-West.

Suitable for reading to children from 6 years old.

Alexander Svirin, Mikhail Lyashenko. Cycle "Book of Knowledge"

The books of the cycle (“The Earth is still far away”, “You can live on this planet”, “Operation Ocean”, “Big Hunt”, “Expedition to the Ancestors”) were published by the Malysh publishing house in 1962–1970, the first three were reprinted in 2016–2018. Mikhail Lyashenko participated in the creation of only the first two books in the series.

The story began with the fact that the sick girl Lena came to visit classmates Genk and Vitka. But Lena had her grandfather, a scientist, at home, and not without his participation, Genka, Vitka and Lenka turned into aliens, whose names were Kagen, Tkavi and Nkale. "Aliens" explored the solar system, our planet, the underwater and animal world, the history of mankind. Led an eight-year expedition (so many books in the series were published) the alien "Lended". The expedition members keep "scientific notebooks" where they write down all the information received. Despite the outdatedness of some of the data on astronomy included in the first issue, and traces of "scientific atheism", these books remain an excellent way to arouse curiosity in a child and present the world around them in its volume and colors.

Pavel Klushantsev. Station "Luna"

The book of the Leningrad film director, screenwriter and master of combined filming P. Klushantsev was published in 1965 and 1974.

Pavel Klushantsev worked simultaneously on a science fiction film and a children's book about the Moon, and perhaps that is why the reader feels like a real space traveler from the very first pages. The author begins with a story about why people aspire to the moon, tells about the lunar race between the USSR and the USA and about the Apollo lunar program, which had not yet been implemented. Then the reader, together with the author, unravels what the lunar soil can be like, how to develop an optimal route to the Moon, how to move around the Moon and equip dwellings on it ... At the same time, elementary information on astronomy, ballistics, and rocket science is given. The book closes with a walk on the moon, a believable description of what lunar explorers and residents will feel and see. Klushantsev invented and placed in the book an original mnemonic way of remembering the names of the lunar seas and bays. Like many of Klushantsev’s books (“To Other Planets”, “What the Telescope Told”, “House in Orbit”), “Luna Station” is a color book-album and still attracts the attention of children with its high-quality design.

Suitable for reading to children from 7 years.

Vladimir Kreps, Klimenty Mints. Club of famous captains. A fantastic story written with a quill pen in oilcloth notebooks, with the attachment of a private correspondence of one city sparrow with the designer of planetary rovers of the VVN series.

The book based on the famous radio series was published in 1974 with illustrations by A. Medvedev.

From it we learn that the famous captains held their meetings in one of the school libraries in Khimki near Moscow (probably because Khimki, although a river, is still a port). But the 100th meeting of the club decided not to allow the insidious Negoro. Of course, the captains overcome all the obstacles erected by the enemies and, in addition, get acquainted with another, twelve-year-old captain of the volleyball team, Petya Sinitsyn. This is the content of the first of five oilcloth notebooks found in the hollow of an oak by a Moscow schoolboy Serezha during a local history trip around Moscow.

This book preserves the remarkable qualities of the broadcast of the "Famous Captains Club" - a unique combination of literary criticism, history and geography, the pathos of knowledge and ethics, instructiveness and humor, respect for other peoples and patriotism.

Alexander Semyonov. Travels of Murzilka. Sci-Fi Dreams»

"Science-fiction dreams" of the artist and writer (or, as it is written in the "manual for the operation of the book" - the writer-inventor) A. Semenov was originally published with a continuation in the magazine "Murzilka" in 1979. In anticipation of A. Semyonov's funny educational detective stories, supplied with his drawings, many young subscribers of Murzilka checked the mailbox every day. In the form of a book, Murzilka's Travels was first published in 2013.

The book consists of two parts: "Journey into Space" and "Journey into the Atom". Together with the nephew of the famous (thanks to other works of A. Semyonov) sorceress Yabeda-Koryabeda named Shivorot-Overturn Murzilka develops superluminal speed, explores the Black Hole and saves its inhabitants from craving for things, greed (which became the reason for the incredible attraction of the Black Hole). And in the second part, the characters get into the microcosm, get acquainted with protons, neutrons and antiparticles. Scientific information and hypotheses of the author, which did not fit in the main text, are placed in footnotes in the margins of the book. Together with the game, jokes and science, the reader of this book is constantly presented with moral questions, on the correct solution of which the life of the characters and the reader depends.

Suitable for reading to children from 6 years old.

Nikolay Sladkov. "Drops of the Sun"

The collection "Drops of the Sun" was released in 1978 and most fully reflects the work of N. Sladkov. Continuing the tradition of his teacher Vitaly Bianchi, Sladkov did not limit himself to describing his native nature. The book is divided into several sections: "In the Forest", "Underground", "Underwater", "In the Mountains" and contains the author's observations of the inhabitants of different countries and latitudes. The writer spent a significant part of his life traveling, but kept in constant contact with readers through television and radio programs, for which he prepared his scripts and speeches. In "Drops of the Sun" a harmonious and at the same time defenseless world of wildlife opens up before the reader, for which man is the elder brother. Many of the author's observations are unique and unrepeatable. Lyrical stories alternate with humorous dialogues of forest dwellers in the spirit of folk tales. These dialogues contain natural history tasks for the reader and reveal new facts from the life of animals.

Suitable for reading to children from 7 years.

Vladimir Levshin. “In search of a stolen stamp. New Adventures of the Master of Scattered Sciences»

One of the many mathematical adventure books by V. Lyovshin and the third in the series "Adventures of the Absent-minded Master" was published for the first time in 1969 and is still being reprinted.

The book takes place in the distant overseas countries of Terranigugu and Sierranibumbum, where the Distracted Master (a great but terribly absent-minded Moscow mathematician) goes in search of a unique stolen stamp. With the help of arithmetic, algebra and the girl One, the Absent-minded Magister tries to solve a detective mystery, but constantly gets into trouble. His mistakes are corrected by a mathematical circle - the Distracted Master's Club - whose meetings consist of eating cakes and solving problems unsolved by the Master.

Suitable for reading to children from 12 years old.

Nikolai Gol, Gennady Grigoriev. "The Adventures of Academician Pyatitomov and Professor Sinitsyn"

The adventures and dialogues of two fictitious scientists were published for many years in the Koster magazine and appeared on Radio Russia in the 90s, and were first published in book form in 2015.

They are devoted to everything in the world - the mystery of UFOs, the Egyptian pyramids, the history of money, linguistics: topics that are included in the school curriculum and go beyond it. And most importantly, something constantly happens to the academician and professor, because they have a restless character, and also have many friends and relatives who also cannot sit still. Yu. Alexandrov's cheerful illustrations recreate the special corporate style of "Kostra", which are very reminiscent of children's drawings in school notebooks.

Suitable for reading to children from 10 years old.

Alexander Shibaev. "Native language, be friends with me"

Scientific and educational book for preschoolers.

"A child by nature is an inquisitive explorer, a discoverer of the world. So let a wonderful world open before him in living colors, bright and quivering sounds, in a fairy tale, in a game." (V.A. Sukhomlinsky).

Children are explorers of the world. This feature is inherent in them by nature.

Every year, the field of cognizable objects and phenomena expands for children, it becomes necessary to constantly involve the child in cognitive activity, pushing him with questions, a problem so that he himself wants to learn as much as possible interesting and necessary. One of the possible means of educating cognitive activity is to familiarize children with scientific and educational literature. It is scientific and educational literature that is able to penetrate into the surrounding world, nature, into life that boils around a person regardless of him.

Scientific-cognitive literature has its own classification: scientific-educational, actually scientific-cognitive and encyclopedic.

Scientific - educational literaturedoes not give references - it expands the reader's horizons, captivates him into a certain area of ​​​​knowledge, and "captivates" him both with the help of fiction literature, and thanks to a detailed story about scientific facts, and using a number of popularization techniques, methods and elements that are more characteristic of mass literature .

main goal scientific - educational book is the formation and development of cognitive activity of the reader.

Scientific - educational children's books consist of scientific - artistic books about nature; historical and heroic-patriotic children's literature; books about cars; things; professions; reference literature and, finally, applied books of the "know and be able" type.

In a science fiction bookwe are talking about specific heroes and events, it is characterized by the artistic image of the hero (fairy tales by V. Bianchi). It helps to instill in children the skills of scientific thinking, develops cognitive interest.

A scientific and educational book gives children a maximum of material that interests them. This is accessible and fascinating information about the event and phenomenon. It helps to instill in children the skill and desire to use the available reference literature (encyclopedia "What is it? Who is it?"). Scientific - educational book avoids terms, uses names. The main goal of a scientific and educational book is to give certain ideas to children, to open the world before them, to educate mental activity, to introduce a small person to the big world.

A brief review of the work of writers who worked in the genre of scientific and educational literature for children.

The work of B. Zhitkov, V. Bianchi, M. Ilyin helped to develop the genre of scientific and educational literature for children.

Tales, stories of naturalists, travelers, scientific tales appeared. Wrote about nature M. Zverev : many works on this topic after the war: "The Reserve of the Motley Mountains", "Stories about animals and birds", "Who runs faster", etc.

Writer I. Sokolov - Mikitovwrote stories, essays, lyrical notes about nature, the fairy tale "Salt of the Earth", "Hunter's Tales" (1949), "Spring in the Forest" (1952), etc. G. Skrebitsky wrote the first book for children "In Troubled Days" in 1942 and since that time he has been writing stories, novels, essays about nature: "Wolf", "Crow and Raven", "Bear", "Squirrel", "Amphibians".

Corresponding Member Academician of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR, Doctor of Biological Sciences N. Verzilin in 1943 he wrote a book for children, "The Clinic in the Forest", later "In the Footsteps of Robinson", "How to Make a Herbarium", "Plants in Human Life" (1952).

Stories and tales about nature wrote N.M. Pavlova "The Treasure of January", "Yellow, White, Spruce", etc. The writers set themselves not only cognitive, but also educational tasks, referring to the mind, feeling and imagination of the reader. Books by M. Ilyin , telling about science "The sun is on the table", "What time is it", "The story of the great plan" is a truly ideological book. His works have great ideological - aesthetic and pedagogical significance. "In science there is life and poetry, you just need to be able to see and show them," he said and knew how to do it, he was a true poet of science. In natural history literature N. Romanova wrote "about the smallest and smallest species, Yu. Linnik - about mimicry, Yu. Dmitriev - about those living beings that are next to a person and are his neighbors on the planet. All these are aspects of the same large, modern-sounding and child-friendly theme of nature. This literature gives the child knowledge, affirms him in his thoughts: talking about love for nature in the absence of knowledge about it is empty and meaningless.

For books M. Ilyina, B. Zhitkovacharacteristically of great cognitive value, they convey the beating of scientific thought, combined with a fascinating, sparkling humor. A true masterpiece of a scientific and artistic book was the work B. Zhitkova for 4-year-old citizens "What I saw", where the author gives answers to the questions of little "why". Introduction to the artistic fabric of works of elementary scientific knowledge is an important, but not the only advantage of the book "What I saw" - not just an encyclopedia, but a story about the life of a small Soviet child, Soviet people. Wrote about nature and drew animals E.I. Charushin . E. Charushin - the writer is closest to V. Bianchi and Prishvin. In the books V. bianchi interest in the scientific observation of nature and the exact explanation of the habits of animals. The desire to convey to the little reader the beauty of the surrounding world makes E. Charushin related to M. Prishvin, who tirelessly preached the idea of ​​the unity of man and nature, the necessary "kindred" attention of man to the world around him.

N.I. Sladkov wrote short lyrical stories about naturein his collection "Silver Tail", "Bear Hill".

Scientific and educational literature is characterized by a significant variety of genres - these are novels, short stories, fairy tales and essays.

Tales about work by E. Permyak "How fire took water in marriage", "How a samovar was harnessed", "About grandfather Samo" and others. V. Levshin ventured merrily, with an amusing invention, to introduce young heroes into the wonderful country of mathematics "Journey to Dwarfism". E. Veltistov creates a fairy tale "Electronics - a boy from a suitcase", "Gum-Gum" was influenced by writers - contemporaries.

V. Arseniev "Meetings in the Taiga", stories by G. Skrebitsky. V. Sakharnov "Journey on the Trigle", the stories of E. Shim, G. Snegirev, N. Sladkov unfold before readers pictures of life in different parts of the Earth.

The special nature of children's perception, its setting for activity, caused the emergence of a new type of book - an encyclopedia. In this case, we mean not reference publications, but literary works for children, which are distinguished by a special thematic breadth. One of the first children's encyclopedias is the "Forest Newspaper" by V. Bianchi.

This experience continues N. Sladkov "Underwater newspaper". There are many photographs in it, they provide visual confirmation of the text.

Thus, we see that the possibilities of a scientific and educational book are great. Proper use of a scientific and educational book gives children:

1. New knowledge.

2. Expands horizons.

3. Teaches you to see an intelligent interlocutor in a book.

4. Nurtures cognitive abilities.

The system of preschool education today is called upon to become the link where conditions should be created for the free development of the child's abilities.

This can be achieved in the process of working with a scientific and educational book, which becomes for children not only a carrier of new knowledge, but also encourages them to learn more and more new information.

It is very important during this period (older preschool age) to organize work in such a way that children can freely navigate in the future in reference and encyclopedic literature, replenish their luggage not only with the knowledge received from adults, but also guided by their own needs to learn even more, find out even better.

Literature:

Gritsenko Z.A. "Interaction of the preschool educational institution with the family in the organization of home reading". M. 2002 (compilation of home library)

Gritsenko Z.A. Children's literature, Methods of introducing children to reading - Moscow: Academy, 2004

Gritsenko Z.A. "Send me good reading" a guide for reading and telling children 4-6 years old (with methodological recommendations) - Moscow: Education, 2001

Gritsenko Z.A. "put your heart into reading" a guide for parents on organizing reading for preschoolers - Moscow: Prosveshchenie, 2003

Gurovich L.M., Beregovaya L.B., Loginova V.I. Piradova V.I. Child and book: A guide for kindergarten teachers. - 3rd ed., Rev. and additional - SPb., 1999. - S.29.2

Topic: History of children's popular science

Main questions:

1. Traditions of the genre of scientific and educational literature.

2. Creativity B. Zhitkov.

3. V. Bianchi - writer-naturalist.

4. E. Charushin for children.

5. Scientific and educational book at the present stage.

A scientific and artistic book for children in Russia of the 20th century was created, on the one hand, in the struggle against the old tradition. On the other hand, in the development of the best traditions of this genre, laid down by K. Ushinsky, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, D. Mamin - Sibiryak. In the 1920s, many scientists and writers took up the development of this genre: B. Zhitkov, M. Prishvin, A. Arseniev, V. Durova, V. Bianchi and others.
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B. S. Zhitkov was a man of versatile knowledge and professions: ichthyologist, engineer, captain of a research vessel, teacher of physics and drawing. His works for children provide great educational material on physics, chemistry, geography, and the design of various devices. The composition of his works is notable for its consistency in the development of the plot, the denouement of the conflict in them is energetic, unexpected, and there is often a situation of choice. Zhitkov's works are intended for readers of all ages. A special place in his work is occupied by stories about animals: ʼʼAbout the elephantʼʼ, ʼʼAbout the monkeyʼʼ, ʼʼMongooseʼʼ, etc.
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They show the habits of animals, describe how they look, what they eat, etc. In 1936, he wrote a book for children 3-4 years old ʼʼWhat I sawʼʼ. This encyclopedia for little ones was written on behalf of Alyosha Pochemochka. In many ways, this is an innovative work.

V. Bianchi is a writer, scientist - biologist, one of the creators of scientific and fiction literature for children. Scientific problems of V. Bianchi's works. Uncovering the patterns of nature. The genre diversity of his works for children: fairy tales, stories, novels, newspapers, etc. Natural history tale (ʼʼForest housesʼʼ, ʼʼfirst huntʼʼ, ʼʼWhose nose is better?ʼʼ, ʼʼTailsʼʼ, etc.). Reliability of observations. Anthropomorphism in the creation of images of animals, birds. Clarity and precision of language. The stories ʼʼSinichkin calendarʼʼ, ʼʼFollowing the footstepsʼʼ, ʼʼGreen Pondʼʼ and others.
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Education of observation and inquisitive attitude of children to nature. Protection of Nature. The stories ʼʼMouse Peakʼʼ, ʼʼOn the Great Sea Routeʼʼ, etc.
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Fairy-tale motifs in stories. Elements of adventure in the composition of natural history stories. ʼʼForest newspaperʼʼ - artistic encyclopedia of nature. E. I. Charushin is a writer and animal painter. Animals and baby animals are the main characters in his stories. Merging text and illustrations. A short story is the main genre of Charushin's work: ʼʼBearsʼʼ, ʼʼVolchishkoʼʼ, etc.
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The subtlety of observations of animals, emotionality, humor.
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Charushin's skill as a storyteller and artist.

In modern literature, the scientific and educational book occupies one of the first places. The work of modern writers-naturalists in terms of genre is very diverse: documentary stories, plot stories, hunting stories, entertaining tales and travel diaries. Often the narration in them is conducted on behalf of the child. As, for example, in the story ʼʼColored Glassesʼʼ by G. Demykin, the story ʼʼI spent my summer wellʼʼ by S. Ivanov, in several stories from the collection ʼʼWho Plants the Forestʼʼ by G. Snegirev .

Topic: Children's literature of the 90s. 20th century - early 21st century

Main questions:

1. The main trends in the development of children's literature of the last decade.

2. Genres of science fiction and fantasy in modern children's literature.

3. Modern children's poetry.

4. Children's periodicals of the 90s of the 20th century.

The second half of the 80s - 90s - the time of reorganization of the entire life of the country. The textbook series of heroes of Soviet children's literature has undergone a cruel revision. Works about pioneer heroes, about heroes - Komsomol members, stories by A. Gaidar were removed from the program. This caused numerous discussions. An attempt to debunk the ʼʼGaidar mythʼʼ failed. Historians and literary critics were given the task of explaining the "Gaidar phenomenon". A wave of reprints of once-famous children's books has risen, which have become rarities. Among them, the works of the Silver Age prevailed - books by Lydia Charskaya, the Gorky collection ʼʼElkaʼʼ, etc., the Soviet avant-garde of the 20-30s - poems and prose of the Oberiuts, as well as children's literature of emigrants - Nadezhda Teffi, Ivan Shmelev, Sasha Cherny . The underground became public. The poems and songs of Igor Irtenev, some rock singers, ʼʼMitkovʼʼ (St. Petersburg artists-poets) got into the subculture of childhood. Oleg Evgenievich Grigoriev (1943-1992) had a great influence on children's literature. His collection ʼʼThe Talking Ravenʼʼ (1989) set the tone for non-didactic game poetry. His name is associated with the development of the semi-folklore genre of ʼʼsadistic versesʼʼ, elevating them to the only early poem of the poet about the electrician Petrov.

The strip of "black" humor, on the one hand, divided children's literature into Soviet, in which nothing like this could be, and post-Soviet. On the other hand, it served as a transition to topics that were previously taboo - violence, fear. ʼʼHorror filmsʼʼ in verse and prose, funny and truly creepy, have become a fashionable hobby for readers of all ages. The genre system was rapidly changing, reflecting changes in adult literature. There was a duplication and interpenetration of adult and children's literature, the boundaries between children's and adults were blurred. In the late 1990s, ʼʼʼʼʼʼ literature reached its peak of development, but it increasingly contradicted post-perestroika moods. In addition, a cult of education arose in society; they began to demand a systematic and consistent presentation of the material from the book. We needed encyclopedias, reference books, not eccentric books. In the ʼʼperestroikaʼʼ years, a retrospective view of reality prevailed in literature and art. The management of the literary, publishing and trade process is a new thing, it must overcome its shortcomings and begin to bring real benefits, not only in monetary terms, but also in social and spiritual terms. The change in the angle of view consisted in the fact that the normal development of generations began to be understood through the education of a free individuality. Children's writers separated themselves into camps, but did not wage a sharp struggle. The quiet rejection of the idea of ​​struggle as the basis of a children's work must be dated back to the 60s, when the fighter hero began to be supplanted by the contemplative hero. For example, the Lion cub and the Turtle, the Hedgehog and the Bear cub in the fairy tales of Sergei Kozlov. The renewal of children's literature was accompanied by the destruction of the canons

Images developed during the Soviet period. Along with the canons, ʼʼseriousʼʼ genres were also rejected - a school story, a didactic story, and poems on ideological topics. At the beginning of the 21st century, their shortage began to be acutely felt, voices were raised against the dominance of gaming literature. Influenced children's literature and an artistic movement that had a global reach - postmodernism. Postmodernists have criticized the model of the world and man, in which binary oppositions play the main role: true - false, good - bad. Οʜᴎ have shown that humanity cannot exist solely between two poles. Successfully in the named period the historical book develops. The theme of the books is from ancient history to the 19th century. Since the mid-90s, a series of books for middle school students ʼʼThe Book of Battlesʼʼ by A.P. Toroptsev has been published. It contains battle scenes from Ancient Egypt to the imperial wars of Europe and Russia in the 18th and early 20th centuries. The comic book genre is also popular today. The comic book attracts such children's writers as Andrey True, Valery Ronshin, Oleg Kurguzov. Comic artists have their own stylists: Andrey Aeshin, Andrey Snegirev, Dmitry Smirnov. Οʜᴎ are guided by American, Japanese, European schools. Periodicals for children since the 90s is going through a turbulent period. Although the majority of old journals are beginning to appear, their content and the composition of authors are being updated. The oldest magazine for children ʼʼFunny picturesʼʼ firmly holds the leading position. ʼʼMurzilkaʼʼ, published since 1924, remained the leader among magazines for beginners in school teaching. For children from 6 to 10 years old, the magazines ʼʼKolokolchikʼʼ, ʼʼFun lessonsʼʼ, ʼʼABVGDʼʼ are published. The newspapers ʼʼNeznaikaʼʼ, ʼʼPionerskaya Pravdaʼʼ are published. The provinces publish their own magazines: in Volgograd - the magazine ʼʼProstokvashaʼʼ, in Yekaterinburg - ʼʼVitaminkaʼʼ. The natural course of the literary process does not correspond to the publishing and trade policy, the mechanism for creating children's literature is disordered, in which public order, state participation and writer's initiative should guide the work of publishers and booksellers.

Literature:

1. Arzamastseva I. N., Nikolaeva S. A. Children's literature. - M., 2007.

2. Gritsenko Z. A. Children's literature. Methods of introducing children to reading.-M., 2007.

3. Meshcheryakova M. I. Russian children's, teenage and youthful prose of the second half of the 20th century. - M.: 1997.

4. Ovchinnikova L. V Russian literary fairy tale of the twentieth century. History, classification, poetics. - M., 2003.

5. Poryadina M. Useless advice // Children's literature. - 2000. - No. 2-3.

It is popular science works in the forms determined by the specifics of children's perception that traditionally contribute to the consistent implementation of the complex process of the child's cognition of reality.

Ensuring the process of cognition of the world in the original, most complete meaning of this concept requires from children's literature both the communication of universal, absolutely reliable information about the level of knowledge about the world achieved by society, and the awakening of interest in the process of cognition itself, its individual stages, ways to obtain real results, specific participants in the process, the formation of primary skills of scientific (cognitive) activity. At each stage of the development of the child, all these tasks are solved in different volumes and by different means. At the same time, the universality of the topic inherent in popular science children's literature is realized in works for various groups of readers using the method of gradual disclosure and complication of the topic, the transition from simple to more complex. Such a method determines not only the principles for selecting factual material, but also the use of artistic and actual popularization means in strict accordance with the level of children's perception, general development in each specific age phase.

The need to appeal to various types of children's reader's perception determines the traditional nature of the existence and in the composition of modern popular science literature for children of two main directions: didactic (or actually popular science) and artistic-figurative (or scientific-artistic), differing in the unity of the subject, target appointments by various literary methods. Raising a materialistic worldview, interest in science, scientific thinking skills, etc. carried out in the works of the first direction by means of popular presentation, accessible to children's perception. At the same time, the entertaining nature of such works (as a necessary quality of any children's work) is achieved through the full disclosure of the very essence of science, its methods, the most striking and significant achievements, specific results and unresolved problems, as well as identifying the heroism and purposefulness of scientific research, the links between scientific discoveries, sometimes even the most paradoxical, and the phenomena of everyday life.

In the second half of the 19th century, well-known scientists often act as authors of didactic works, less often writers, such a tradition was further developed in Soviet times. Turning to the child reader, scientists usually proceed from the fact that although “the fictional form of presentation arouses interest and entices, life to a large extent consists of work. Scientific research often requires great volitional effort. And to present all this to a child only in a purely entertaining, as if deliberately lightened form means to render him a disservice, means to deceive him. A popular science book should teach work, experiment, teach you to spare no effort to achieve the goal ”(M.M. Zavadovsky, a well-known biologist).

Due to its specificity, didactic children's popular science literature appeals mainly to readers who have already formed a certain interest in science, there is a specific (primary or more developed) idea of ​​​​the subject, the need to expand their knowledge. While the works of the artistic and figurative direction of popular science literature appeal to readers whose interest in science has not yet been formed (or has not yet been fully formed). The works of this direction just strive to arouse in children an interest in science and technology, scientific research.

If the classical popular science literature of the didactic direction refers, as a rule, to the mind of the reader, to his logical perception, expanding and deepening knowledge, answering specific questions fully, accurately and fascinatingly, introducing directly into the essence of the subject, highlighting the main thing, outlining historical milestones and prospects for the development of science and technology, then artistic popularization in its best examples refers not so much to the mind as to the feelings of the child, seeking to educate and develop the creative imagination of children, to make them feel like the masters of the Universe, the creators of world history. That is why one of the most characteristic features of the works of this direction is publicism.

The widespread use of artistic and figurative means, the appeal to the most striking events in the history of science are the origins of the amusement of this trend in children's popular science literature. In particular, this determines the wide spread of the fictionalized biography genre in this complex of works. The appeal to the life of a talented scientist, inventor, writer, artist (any other artist) provides fertile material for a story about the very essence of creative activity, about the ups and downs of scientific thought, the romance of research, creative work. In line with the artistic direction of children's popular science literature, there are parallel works that are conditionally called "information fiction", in which artistic means only frame purely scientific material, give it harmony, unite it with a common plot, etc. Most of these works are addressed to the younger and middle age groups of children's readers, who are especially receptive to the artistic and figurative structure of the works. At the same time, the very application of the artistic method does not acquire a self-sufficient character in popular science works. Otherwise, we will talk about a work of fiction for children on the corresponding (scientific) topic, however, it is very difficult to draw a dividing line between fiction and scientific literature for children.

During this period, the theory of children's popular science literature continues to take shape. A significant phenomenon in the history of Russian children's books is the work undertaken in the 60s by the famous critic and publicist N.V. Shelgunov is an attempt to create a detailed project of a "children's library" of popular science books, differentiated by reader's address into three sections: for children under 6 years old - picture books; for children 6-8 years old - picture books with text; for children 10 years old - short courses in certain areas of science and technology. The construction of each section was determined by the principle of the encyclopedic nature of the reported material. In the history of Russian children's books, this is one of the first attempts to develop a systematic set of popular science books, clearly differentiated by age and taking into account the possibilities of various types of children's book publications (picture books with and without text, text editions).

The repertoire of popular science children's books, universal in subject matter, diverse in genres of published works, including books for all age groups of children's readers, using conceptual and artistic methods of popularization, is one of the most significant achievements in the history of Russian children's books in the third quarter of the 19th century. A place of honor in it is occupied by popular science books on history. Inspired by the work of N.M. Karamzin "History of the Russian State", children's writers have created many adaptations of it.

In addition to the historical complex, the popular science repertoire of children's books of the period of interest to us included quite numerous publications devoted to various natural and humanitarian sciences, the development of technology.

Among the publications addressed to younger readers, books devoted to the explanation of natural phenomena that the child sees daily, objects that surround him in everyday life predominated. This was followed by publications that carried away in close and long walks and travels, gradually expanding the boundaries of the children's world from the walls of the room to the limits of the Universe. Such books were clearly encyclopedic in nature, providing a variety of information from botany, zoology, geography, physics, etc.; they are distinguished, as a rule, by a lively figurative language, an abundance of illustrations. Popular science books for middle and older age are more fundamental, they attracted significant scientific material to explain individual phenomena and objects, they used scientific terminology. The publications for this age were dominated by didactic popularization, which formed the worldview, interest in science, scientific thinking skills, etc. means of popular presentation of scientific information, accessible to children's perception.

During this period, among publications addressed to middle and older age, there appeared works of one of the most significant and original genres of popular science literature for children - the so-called "entertaining popularization" ("entertaining science"), which was widely developed somewhat later - at the end of the 19th century. - the beginning of the XX century. The works of this genre not only inform readers about the results of the development of science and technology, but also instill in children ingenuity, independent thinking, love and respect for scientific research, for the methods of scientific thinking, and finally, for people of science. The activity of "entertaining popularization" corresponds to the specifics of childhood; without setting itself the task of teaching a child any science, without replacing educational literature, it is able to inspire the reader with a passion for science, expand his ideas about scientific activity, and teach him to think in the spirit of a particular science. For the works of this genre, in the future, an emphasized documentary character is characteristic, the use of material only firmly proven, without stating conjectures, hypotheses; the ability to see the unusual in the ordinary, to look at familiar phenomena from a new, unexpected angle of view, determines the nature of entertainment here.

The appearance of this kind of books in children's popularization is associated with the intensification of the development of science, primarily with outstanding discoveries made, including by domestic scientists. In this and all subsequent periods of the development of domestic children's literature, works of the artistic and figurative direction of popular science literature are addressed to readers of younger age groups, seeking not only to explain the world around them, but also to arouse their interest in science and technology, scientific research.

A significant place in children's literature is occupied by works that are devoted to the popularization of information from various fields of knowledge - natural science, history, technology, physics and many others. There are several names for such literature: popular science, scientific and artistic, cognitive. Composed, as a rule, of two concepts, these titles are intended to reflect the dual nature of cognitive literature: by means of a literary word, to give the reader an idea of ​​individual scientific facts or phenomena. Thus, cognitive literature occupies an intermediate place among scientific and artistic books, differing markedly from both. In scientific or educational books, the authors strive for maximum objectivity in the presentation of material, while the authors of educational works present the same material through the prism of a personal, subjective attitude. Subjectivity is manifested in the emotional coloring of the narrative, imagery, and the presence of fiction. Even purely practical books that popularize knowledge for children can express a subjective-poetic vision of the world. Here is an example from a book by a popular scientist A. Fersman "Memories of Stone" . In the story "Alabaster" one of the heroes (an Italian by nationality) describes this stone as follows:

White-white, like your Siberian bread, like sugar or Russian flour for pasta, this is how alabaster should be.

The extraction of alabaster is told in fascinating stories that take the reader both to medieval Italy and to the modern Urals. Compare the artistic narrative with the characterization of a stone from a textbook on mineralogy: “Alabaster is a fine-grained variety of gypsum of different colors, mostly pure white, found in Italy, on the western slope of the Urals and in many other places. It is used as a soft decorative stone. Academician A. Fersman was the author of strict scientific works, but in cognitive literature he became a keen storyteller, endowed with a vivid imagination and a poetic warehouse.

The position of the author in an educational book can be different. In one case, he adheres to the role of a popularizing scientist, telling the reader about a topic or problem that concerns him. Then it is not uncommon to refer to one's own research experience, stories about the activities of other scientists. In another case, the author leaves behind the scenes his scientific activity, often hiding under the guise of a fictional narrator. He gives free rein to imagination and fantasy, invents characters and an entertaining plot. The choice of the form of presentation depends on what tasks the writer primarily sets for himself: to present the material in a popular way, to give it a moral and philosophical understanding, to express an emotional assessment, or to offer practical recommendations.

But no matter what position the author chooses, he remains true to the scientific fact, on the basis of which an artistic image is born, a moral-philosophical idea or a publicistic theme develops. All works of cognitive literature are based on exact facts, expeditionary materials, documentary observations, and laboratory research. The writer does not allow himself, in the name of an interesting fiction, to distort the real relations prevailing in the natural world, and this is a prerequisite for all educational books, regardless of topic and genre. In the story of a famous zoologist N. Plavilshchikova "Toothpick for a crocodile" talks about the "friendship" of a crocodile and a small bird. The mutual assistance that these animals provide to each other in nature has long been overgrown with legends. No matter how much the author wants to entertain the reader with a beautiful story, he adheres to the biological truth: the bird and the beast “do not seek to provide mutual services. They just live side by side and have adapted to each other.” This preference for scientific fact distinguishes educational literature from other types of children's literature.

But in works that popularize knowledge, a scientific fact performs not only an informational function. It is considered by the author in connection with the existing ideas about the purpose of science and its role in human life. These ideas are subject to change depending on the development of public views. Thus, the ideas of conquering nature, popular in Soviet society and literature in the 30s of the 20th century, were replaced three decades later by calls for a careful attitude towards it. There is no "pure science" on the pages of children's educational books.

Genres and styles of cognitive literature are very diverse. Thus, the natural history topic, in addition to the tasks of a popular science nature, opens up great opportunities for posing moral and philosophical problems. Therefore, observation of the natural world is reflected in stories, descriptions, fairy tales. Historical themes often underlie novels or stories from the historical past. Biographical genres are dedicated to the fate of a person famous in history or science. Geographic information is often clothed in the form of travel. The popularization of scientific and technical knowledge gravitates toward the genre of informative conversations with vivid examples and an accessible manner of presentation.

The types of publications of cognitive literature are just as diverse: from picture books, books with stickers, toy books, collections of stories and fairy tales to reference books and multi-volume encyclopedias. The methods and types of literature that popularize knowledge for children are constantly updated, some of them are born before our eyes, others have a long history.

The history of educational literature for children began almost earlier than children's literature itself: the authors of the first children's books of the 17th-18th centuries took up the pen in search of ways to popularize knowledge. So there were conversations and conversations on educational topics, geographical travel, historical stories. Sometimes writers were let down by ignorance of science, but books written by talented popularizing scientists had all the advantages of good cognitive literature. For example, the famous naturalist of the 19th century M. Bogdanov was not only a luminary of science, but also had a brilliant command of the literary style.

But the real possibilities of cognitive literature were revealed in the first decades of the 20th century, and the impetus for this was the dramatic changes in the social life of the country after the 1917 revolution. The popularization of knowledge has become the slogan of the Soviet era, as well as the idea of ​​active exploration of nature by man. Writing about science and technology in those years was for the reader who did not have elementary knowledge. The new readership and new educational tasks pushed not to repeat literary forms, but to experiments. They sometimes led away from utilitarian goals into the world of real literary discoveries. Therefore, many educational books of the 20-30s of the 20th century retain their artistic significance right up to the present day.

Forms and techniques popular in children's literature were taken as a basis, based on an action-packed narration, lively conversation, and a fascinating story. For example, the travel genre appeared in a new quality. The heroes of educational books went to the world of science and technology, and it opened not in exotic countries, but in familiar forests and fields, working workshops and laboratories of scientists. Even an ordinary room could become the object of a cognitive journey if a scientist-engineer talks about the objects in it. In the book M. Ilyina "One Hundred Thousand Whys" (1929), which introduces the reader to information from the field of physical and technical sciences, there is a section "Journey around the room". It opens with an intriguing introduction:

We read with interest about travels to distant, unexplored countries and do not realize that a stone’s throw from us, or even closer, lies an unfamiliar, amazing, mysterious country called “our room”.

The impetus for a cognitive journey is riddle questions (“Are there walls made of air?”, “Why doesn’t water burn?”). Answers to them require scientific knowledge, in search of which the reader goes with the author on an imaginary journey.

Such a journey often turns out to be a journey into the past, where the popularizer finds the background of some invention or scientific and technical discovery. Yes, the book E. Danko "Chinese Secret" (1925), dedicated to the history of the china cup, is a series of fascinating stories from the distant past.

But history itself is also a science with its own characteristics of scientific and historical research. They are introduced to the child by popular works written by historians. As a rule, they are talking about the discovery of a historical document. in the famous book S. Lurie "Letter from a Greek Boy" (1930) tells how scientists were able to read a letter written in ancient Greek on a piece of ancient papyrus.

Such popular genres in children's literature as fairy tales, short stories, novellas and even fantasy novels were put at the service of cognitive goals. Created by writers and completely original works. For example, an educational book B. Zhitkova"What I saw"(1939) written from the point of view of a child, or "Forest Newspaper" V. Bianchi(1928), written as an annual newspaper issue.

The tradition of cognitive literature, created at the beginning of the 20th century, continued in the second half of the century, now students and followers of famous popularizers took up the pen. An example of such an apprenticeship is the school of naturalist writers inspired by Vitaliy Bianchi. In general, in the 50-80s of the XX century, natural history literature noticeably came to the fore. It was no coincidence. The joy of the triumph of man over conquered nature has been replaced by concern for the current state of the world.

A characteristic feature of cognitive literature for children in the second half of the 20th century is the complexity of the scientific material that it presents. It is designed for a literate and erudite reader, which is a modern child. He is introduced to technology, the basics of chemistry, physics and electronics. Popular information from Russian and Soviet history is presented in the genre of a historical story. The most published books in the second half of the 20th century were S. Alekseeva devoted mainly to the heroic pages of national history ( One Hundred Stories of War ", 1982). Historical figures in them turned out to be next to fictional characters - people from the people, who, according to the writer, are the main engines of the historical process.

In recent decades, there has been an interest in works that tell about the Slavic past and the Orthodox roots of the Russian people (for example, G. Yudin Sirin bird and rider on a white horse , 1993). Biographies of Russian religious figures appeared. In the newest cognitive literature for children, interest in national antiquities and relics is increasingly increasing.

In the modern educational book for children, the tendency towards encyclopedia is growing. Hence the popularity children's encyclopedias , reference books. The famous children's encyclopedia "Why", which was published in 1988 and reprinted more than once, is a brilliant example of domestic educational literature. Fairy tales, conversations, stories, riddles, poetic stories, its components, introduce the child into the world of various knowledge.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable desire to publish cognitive literature of a reference nature. The story, conversation, description are replaced by a short reference article, the content of which is little understood by the child and requires an explanation from the adult. Will "children's" reference books replace cognitive literature? I think not, because good educational literature has a clear advantage over reference and educational literature: it not only provides the necessary information, but also serves as a full-fledged book for the child to read.

Modern printing allows publishing colorful, richly illustrated books. These can be picture books for the little ones, and photo albums for older children. They are also examples of cognitive literature.

Questions and tasks

1. What is the difference between educational literature and educational and fiction?

2. How did domestic educational literature develop and what distinguishes modern editions of educational books for children?

10.2. Natural literature for children and its features

Natural history literature includes works of a very different nature. These are informative conversations on zoology and biology, stories and stories about animals, descriptions of natural phenomena, natural history tales, practical recommendations for young nature lovers. The popularity of natural history topics is not difficult to explain - a child meets animals and plants at every step, and interest in them remains throughout all childhood years. With the explanation of the phenomena of nature, the path to the scientific knowledge of the world begins for the child. But the natural history topic is rarely limited to explanations, quite often it goes into the field of spiritual and moral ideas. They are connected with understanding the place of man in the world and cultivating in him a careful attitude to all living things. Undoubtedly, the patriotic sound of such literature: it instills love for one's country and native land. By reading the books of talented naturalist writers, we not only get to know the world around us, but also begin to better understand life. Vitaly Bianchi insisted on this meaning of natural history literature:

The task of works of art is not at all to give the reader a certain complex of scientific (“objective”) knowledge about certain animals, plants, etc., but to give the image of an animal, plant, even an inanimate object ...

Then the reader will discover "the purest 'truth', a profoundly true image of reality...". And we are talking not only about the "truth" from the world of animals or plants. Compare two short stories Gennady Snegirev. The note "Raven" from the book "Birds of Our Forests" describes the life of ravens:

Forest crows live in pairs. And they live for two hundred years or more. A pair of crows flies over the taiga and carefully examines every clearing, every stream. If they notice the prey: the remains of a deer that was bitten by a bear, or a dead fish on the shore, they will immediately let other crows know. “Kruk-krruk-krruk,” the cry of a raven rushes over the taiga, it notifies other ravens that it has found prey.

The picture is very expressive, and besides, it is enlivened by the sound game. Now the preschool reader will be able to distinguish the crow among the birds of our forests. The raven is described in a completely different way in another story by Snegirev. A black lone bird circles the earth in search of prey, causing fear and dislike in everyone.

The raven returns with nothing: he is very old. He sits on a rock and warms his sick wing. The raven froze him a hundred years, maybe two hundred years ago. Spring is all around, and he is all alone.

A sick wing and an unsuccessful hunt are not only a sketch from nature, but also an image of a sad lonely old age, which causes the reader to associate with human life and the emotions and thoughts associated with it.

The humanistic pathos characteristic of natural history books sets them apart from the rest of the cognitive literature. Writers often openly address the young reader, urging him to take good care of nature. But the power of literature is not in appeals. Love for nature begins with a keen interest in it, and the task of the naturalist writer is to arouse this interest by means of literature. A significant role here is played by interesting facts and observations from the natural world that can capture the reader's imagination. The writer takes them from scientific books on biology, but more often he relies on his own observations obtained on expeditions and travels. But the facts alone cannot constitute the content of a natural history book. More important is how the writer talks about them.

The authors of many natural history books write in the form of an informative conversation, using all the advantages of this genre: colloquial manner, emotional tone, vivid comparisons, playful remarks. The books are especially different. Igor Akimushkin. They are full of expressions “interesting to know”, “amazing discovery”, which accompany the story of scientific facts. The writer seems to urge the reader to share with him admiring surprise at the wonders of nature. One of Akimushkin's books for kids is called "Nature is a magician" (1990), and every description in it is full of emotions, for example, it is said about cuttlefish:

She lives in the sea, and swims - a wonderful marvel! - vice versa. Not like all animals. Head not forward, but back!

In books for teenagers, the writer resorts to another technique: he witty compares the habits of animals with the life of a modern person. Therefore, kangaroo ("Animal World", 1971):

they communicate with their relatives by wireless telegraph, of the same type as that of rabbits and hares - they tap their paws on the ground.

To arouse the reader's interest in the world of nature, such tried-and-true techniques in literature as riddles, secrets, and intrigues also help. The author knows how to arrange the material in such a way that it arouses the interest of the reader, intrigues him. At the same time, scientific logic and objectivity are not lost sight of. Many of Akimushkin's books introduce the classification of animals. But the writer constantly plays with scientific logic, surprising the reader with the fact that animals so dissimilar in appearance turn out to be together. This is especially noticeable in books for children. Their names sound intriguing - "These are all cats" (1975), "These are all dogs" (1976), "These are all antelopes" (1977). Species classification turns into an exciting puzzle game - try and guess the relationship of such different animals. The composition of the book can follow another principle - to show the difference in the habits of animals, which are explained by different habitats. In the book Yuri Dmitriev "Hello squirrel! How are you, crocodile? (1986) stories are devoted to how different animals hear, feel, move. Sometimes it seems that all these techniques are designed to amuse the reader, to “sweeten” the bitter root of the doctrine. But this is far from true. No less interesting is the personality of the writer-naturalist, a man in love with nature. We turn to the books of I. Akimushkin, Yu. Dmitriev, V. Bianchi or N. Sladkov not only to learn something new about nature, but also to experience with them the feeling of joy from meeting with the amazing and wonderful world. Of course, this applies not only to the authors of Russian natural history literature, but also to remarkable foreign writers such as Ernest de Seton-Thompson or Gerald Durrell.

Questions and tasks

1. What are the challenges facing natural history literature for children and how does it solve them? Show this on the example of books by I. Akimushkin and Y. Dmitriev.

2. By what means do naturalist writers solve these problems?

Tales of V. Bianchi

The fairy tale is the most popular genre in children's reading, and attempts to use its advantages in natural history literature for children have been made more than once. However, this is not easy to do, since fairy tale fiction should not distort the facts of science. They should not be distorted by moral ideas about good and evil, which do not correspond to the laws reigning in nature. Therefore, the traditional type of fairy tale containing “a lesson for good fellows” is not very suitable for natural history topics. This tale is about “lessons” of a different kind, and animals in them do not turn into allegories of human virtues and shortcomings, as happens in fables.

The creator of the natural history tale is rightfully considered Vitalia Bianchi(1894-1959). Under his pen, a fairy tale ceased to be only a bearer of moral and ethical ideas, it was filled with natural science knowledge (therefore, Bianchi called his works “fairy tales-non-tales”). Fairy tale fiction was not just an entertaining device for the writer; in Bianchi's understanding, the artistic and poetic form of knowing the world is no less important than scientific and realistic.

in the story "Silly questions" (1944) describes a conversation between a scientist father and his young daughter. The subject of the dispute between them was a different perception of nature: the father cognizes the world around him in terms of objective scientific knowledge and teaches this to his daughter. But the girl does not have enough exact definitions and scientific classifications. Asking about birds, she asks her father questions that reflect a poetic view of the world (“Why is the plover bowing, and the plover nodding its tail? Are they saying hello?”). Such an unscientific approach seems stupid to the father (“What nonsense! Do birds greet?”). And only when the father catches himself thinking that his daughter's "stupid" questions prompted him to interesting discoveries, he recognizes the importance of a poetic view of the world. This view allows you to know nature in all its depths. That is why the fairy tale, according to Bianchi, is "the deepest kind of literature."

Bianchi considered an important advantage of the fairy tale to be its action-packed, emotional richness and closeness to live colloquial speech - the legacy of the folk fairy tale tradition. The writer turned to her in his own work, calling "emotions, plot, simplicity of language" the three pillars of his poetics.

The connection with the folk tale in the works of Bianchi was not straightforward, because he faced other, cognitive tasks. But, talking about the laws of the natural world, the writer more than once turned to individual motives and techniques of a folk tale, and also used colloquial speech with a well-aimed word characteristic of it. But this is not the only difference between Bianchi's tales. They have a tense narrative rhythm, artistic play with sound and word, vivid imagery - all this is typical of the poetic culture of the early 20th century, on which Bianchi was brought up and formed as a writer. The tradition of two cultures - folk and literary - determined the originality of Bianchi's natural history tales.

The material for them was observations of the life of various animals. Bianchi wrote especially a lot about birds (his father was a famous ornithologist, and in his scientific interests the writer followed in his father's footsteps). But whatever Bianchi wrote about, he adhered to the rule: to depict the life of animals not in the form of separate isolated facts, but in deep interconnection with the general laws of nature. The appearance and habits of the animal depend on this, and the task of the writer is to show the operation of these general laws using the example of specific representatives from the world of birds and animals. By preserving the commonality in his characters, the writer avoids the facelessness that is alien to the very nature of a literary hero.

Personality begins with the fact that the character gets a name. Bianchi does not have random names, each name speaks of the character's belonging to one or another type of animal, and at the same time characterizes him. Sometimes a capital letter (Swallow Beregovushka) or a slight change in the word (Ant) is enough for a name. Bianchi often has names that play on the appearance of the animal (partridge Orange neck). Not uncommon for Bianchi and onomatopoeic names (mouse Peak, sparrow Chick). As for the character traits of the characters, they are only outlined by the writer. It is much more important that they are small, and such closeness to the world of childhood always evokes a lively response from readers.

Story "Forest houses" (1924) is one of Bianchi's most popular works. The writer associated the reason for such success with the image of the main character of the tale - the swallow Beregovushka.

From everywhere I hear that “Forest Houses” is the favorite book of preschoolers. What is in it for the little ones? It seems to me - great comfort: all the houses, and one another is better, more comfortable. The little hero is still "stupid", knowing nothing in the big world, poking his nose everywhere, like the readers themselves. Maybe the kindness that meets Beregovushka, weak and helpless in this vast, but no longer alien world.

Indeed, the story of Beregovushka's wanderings in search of a house for the night is similar to the story of a lost child. The similarity with the world of childhood is found already in the first words of the tale:

High above the river, over a steep cliff, young shore swallows swam. They chased each other with a squeal and a squeak: they played tag.

Why not child's play? But the game continues later, when the swallow visits the bird's nests, each of which is somewhat similar to a toy house. The little wanderer does not like any of them, and only having reached her home, Shoreline sweetly falls asleep in her bed.

Children's play in small houses does not exhaust the content of the tale. The plot about the wanderings of Beregovushka allows Bianchi to unfold a broad picture of the life of birds using the example of a story about bird nests. Their descriptions are accurate and reliable, but each time the observation of an ornithologist is complemented by the gaze of the artist. Here is one of the descriptions:

Hanging on a birch branch is a tiny, light house. Such a cozy house looks like a rose made from thin sheets of gray paper.

Each word is emotionally colored and close to the children's vision of the world. Therefore, bird nests are sometimes called "air cradle", then "hut", then "floating island". None of these cute houses attracts Beregovushka - why isn't the choosy from the fairy tale "Geese Swans"? But Bianchi gradually leads readers to the fact that it is not the capricious nature that prevents Beregovushka from finding a suitable house, but the dependence of each bird on a certain habitat. This is indicated by the facts that are in the descriptions of all fairy-tale houses.

There are childlike traits in the hero of the fairy tale "Mouse Peak" (1927). His adventures are described in the spirit of Robinsonades, popular in children's reading. Hence the intriguing titles of the chapters (“How a Little Mouse Became a Sailor”, “Shipwreck”), which are reminiscent of dangerous sea adventures. Despite the fact that the comparison of the mouse with Robinson is comical, the story of his misadventures does not turn into a joke or a parody. We are talking about real relationships in the natural world, in which the hero of Bianchi is a participant. These relationships are quite severe, and the tale serves as an illustration of the struggle for life that exists in nature. So, the terrible nightingale-robber is a shrike-shrike, a thunderstorm of mice, which "although a songbird, trades in robbery." The mouse itself is a representative of a certain biological species. Therefore, he builds the house in the way “as all the mice of his breed were built”, and it is not a miracle that saves him from certain death, but “yellow-brown fur, exactly the same color as the earth.” Telling mouse robinsonade, Bianchi does not go beyond natural laws. This does not prevent the reader from seeing the fearless navigator in the mouse and worrying about the outcome of his adventures. They end with a chapter titled "A Good End", and such an end is an important condition for a children's book.

The same closeness to the world of childhood is in the fairy tale "The Adventures of the Ant" (1936). Her hero must be in time for the anthill before sunset - a fact from the life of ants. At the same time, the hero's behavior bears a clear resemblance to a child who hurries home before dark and pitifully asks adults for help. By this, he arouses sympathy among all the characters in the fairy tale who are ready to help the kid in trouble. In addition, the Ant is similar to the tricksters of folk tales about animals: with the help of dexterity and cunning, they invariably win, and the hero of Bianchi resorts to such tricks at the right time. But the description of how each of the characters walks or flies has nothing to do with the tradition of a folk tale: Bianchi is talking about the structure of insects and how they move. But, talking about them, the writer does not break with the fairy tale - all descriptions are from the world of artistic imagery. Therefore, the wings of the beetle are “exactly two inverted troughs”, it buzzes, “like starting a motor”, and on the thread that the caterpillar gave, you can swing merrily, like on a real swing. The comparisons that Bianchi often uses not only correlate the unknown with the known to the child, but also introduce an element of play into the narrative. The game continues in onomatopoeia, as well as in the use of metaphorical expressions and sayings. About the sunset it is said: “The sun has already touched the edge of the earth”, and about the experiences of the hero: “Though throw yourself upside down.” All this makes it possible to preserve the atmosphere of a real fairy tale in the narrative on a cognitive theme.

Bianchi took the type of a braggart hero from the folk fairy tale tradition. Such a braggart - a puppy in a fairy tale "First Hunt" (1924). He is ashamed that all the animals and birds managed to hide from him. The story of how animals hide from enemies in nature is similar to the description of a children's game of hide and seek, only it is played not by children, but by animals. And they “play” according to the rules suggested by nature itself. It is told about these rules in figurative comparisons.

The hoopoe crouched to the ground, spread its wings, opened its tail, raised its beak up. The Puppy looks: there is no bird, but a motley rag lies on the ground, and a crooked needle sticks out of it.

A completely different bouncer in a fairy tale Rosyanka - mosquito death (1925). This is a typical fairy-tale hero boastfully singing a song about his invulnerability. And if the author took pity on the stupid puppy (there is a lot of childishness in him), then the boastful mosquito is punished, but in a completely natural way - he became a victim of a swamp plant.

More than once Bianchi turned to the characteristic device of a folk tale - a riddle. Sometimes the riddle sounds already in the title (“Who sings with what?”, “Whose legs are these?”). Solving them is not easy, because the riddle is complicated by the game of paradoxes. Story "Who sings what?" (1923) begins with a paradox: "Here, listen to what and how the voiceless sing." Can the voiceless sing? Thus a new mystery arises. “Heard from the ground: as if in the heights a lamb sang, bleated.” A lamb singing in the sky is a snipe. But then a new mystery: what does he sing with? And a new paradox - tail. A whole choir of voices falls upon the reader, which Bianchi reproduces by means of sound play and the rhythmic construction of a phrase. “Now quieter, then louder, then less often, then more often a wooden ratchet crackles” (this is about a stork). “It circles around the flower in the meadow, buzzes with veiny hard wings, as if a string is buzzing” (this is about a bumblebee). But the sound game also has an independent meaning. "Prumb-boo-boo-boom" - who is this? It is not necessary to immediately look for a realistic explanation, this is the wonderful world of nature that speaks its own language. The transmission of animal sounds in Bianchi's tales is not reduced to naturalistic onomatopoeia (although it is based on this). No less important for the writer is the poetic and playful transformation of the world. In a fairy tale "Bird talk "(1940) the sounds of bird voices easily turn into rhymes and jokes, with which the narrative is densely sprinkled.

Many folk tales about animals tell about the disputes of animals for superiority, and they look like a continuous dialogue between the debaters. There are many such disputes in the tales of Bianchi. The arguments in them are natural laws (“Whose nose is better?”, 1924).

Bianchi talks about these patterns in many fairy tales. One of them - "Teremok "(1929) - written in the tradition of folk cumulative tales. This variety of fairy tales is characterized by the addition of identical links, ending in a grotesque finale. However, Bianchi's tale does not repeat the folk "Teremok". The writer frankly plays with tradition: his “teremok” turns out to be a hollow of a forest oak, in which the inhabitants of the forest find temporary shelter. So the folk tale in the presentation of Bianchi becomes an illustration of natural laws. Like a fairy tale "Owl" (1927), which tells of a man's unreasonable desire to drive away an owl. As if in a cumulative fairy tale, a chain is being built here, but there is an objective logic in connecting its links: after all, we are talking about a food chain. So the fabulous paradox (owls fly away - there will be no milk) receives quite scientific confirmation.

Bianchi has fairy tales in which this or that natural phenomenon is given not a scientific, but a mythological explanation. The tradition of such tales goes back to mythological stories. Some of them Bianchi heard and recorded himself during his trips. In a cycle "Trapper's Tales" (1935) reflected the recordings of fairy-tale folklore that Bianchi made from the Ostyaks living in the Far North. The fairy tale "Lyulya" tells why this bird, which lives in the north, has red eyes and a beak. Folk mythology linked the appearance of the bird to the origin of land. A small fearless bird, diving to great depths, took out a pinch of earth from the bottom of the sea and thereby saved all life.

Some of Bianchi's tales are devoted to the description of the annual natural cycle. The picture of the annual cycle is in the fabulous "novel" "Orange Neck" (1941), which tells about the life of partridges. Bianchi called this work "a little hymn to the Motherland", closely linking the knowledge of nature with a feeling of love for the native land.

Questions and tasks

1. How do the traditions of folk tales live in the tales of V. Bianchi?

2. What is the originality of the heroes of the fairy tales of V. Bianchi?

3. Give examples of a word game from the fairy tales of V. Bianchi.

Stories about animals

Stories about animals are very popular in children's reading. Among their authors are not only children's writers, but also recognized classics of Russian literature. The themes of most of the works are connected with the ideas of the humane attitude of man to the "smaller brothers", which is why the hero of many stories about animals is a man. In his communication with animals, the true properties of character are revealed. Writers love to cite examples of people caring for animals, especially in stories about the friendship between children and animals. Communication with an animal means a lot for an adult who sees in him a faithful and devoted friend. But even if the writer-naturalist is attracted to the world of animals exclusively by cognitive interest, then in this case we learn quite a lot about a person who observes nature.

But the presence of man does not obscure the animals themselves in the stories about animals, be it a giant elephant or a small forest bird. Such an exaggerated attention in the literature to "little things" has its own explanation - each of the animals reflects the world of nature, and this gives significance to the incidents associated with them. In stories for children, this significance is spoken of straightforwardly - cases are described in which animals or birds show quick wit and resourcefulness. "Reasonable" can be both domestic animals and wild ones that a person met in their natural environment or observed them in a zoo. Stories written by famous trainers (for example, V. Durov) about their four-legged pupils also tell about the abilities of animals.

Many stories about animals are close to documentary literature (the use of photographs in their design is not uncommon), but even those that belong to the literature of fiction are distinguished by the reliability of the description of animals and their habits. As a rule, writers rely on real observations and their own life experiences. Let's look at evidence V. Bianchi about him "Little Stories" (1937).