"Hedgehog" and "Siskin"

The Hedgehog is the Monthly Magazine; "Chizh" - "Extremely interesting magazine". The first was intended for teenagers, the second - for the youngest children.

In 1954, at the Leningrad branch of the Writers' Union, at a re-election meeting and on the eve of the Second Congress of USSR Writers, Schwartz made a report "On Children's Literature." And he began with a story about how children's literature began in Petrograd:

Thirty years ago, everyone who started working in children's literature knew the room on the first floor of the Leningradskaya Pravda publishing house. Here, almost every evening, the editorial board of the children's magazine "Sparrow" and all its employees gathered around a small table. A person who appeared in this circle for the first time, with surprise, or rather with respectful horror, watched how a tight group of people titanically, giving all their spiritual strength, was constructing - there is no other word for it, constructing the next issue of a thin children's magazine. First of all, this concerns two people: Marshak, the first collector of the Leningrad detachment of children's writers, and in those days his closest friend Boris Zhitkov. Not everyone was sitting out until the end of the next work, but neither Marshak nor Zhitkov relaxed the tension until late at night, did not lose height. We were looking for the right word. Exactly word. The magazine was built word by word, from beginning to end. And this way of editing made a deep sense then. The author, who came to children's literature, met the demand from the first steps: work with might and main! There was no discount for reading age. Then Marshak liked to say that a children's writer is like a children's doctor. It is absurd to say that a pediatrician can learn less because his patient is small. It was explained to a novice writer: you have to write excellently precisely because the children's reader devours books eagerly, not always understanding the quality. You dare not use this property of it !.

S. Ya. Marshak worked not only in the editorial office of "Sparrow", later renamed "New Robinson", but also at home. He then lived on Potemkinskaya Street opposite the Tauride Garden. “Often, after working, we left the smoky room to breathe fresh air, - wrote Schwartz even earlier, on January 16, 1951. - Samuel Yakovlevich argued that if you want it properly, you can fly. But in my presence he never succeeded, although he happened to run quickly, in small steps of five fathoms. Probably, the heavy briefcase, without which I cannot remember it on the street, prevented Samuil Yakovlevich from separating from the ground. "

In 1925 S. Marshak became the head (consultant) of the Children's Department, which was being formed at the GIZ. B. Zhitkov and E. Schwartz move here. They are trying to drag Nikolai Oleinikov to Leningrad. And that manages, in addition to the certificate that he is handsome, to get a referral to work in "Leningradskaya Pravda", but he becomes the executive secretary of the "New Robinson". The editors are thinking about new magazines. There are new employees and new writers who start writing for children.

When I first conceived a biographical book about Schwartz in the mid-70s of the last century, I thought that I would introduce large chunks of unpublished Schwartzian texts into the narrative; I will talk in detail about the "Serapion brothers" and about OBEERIU, about each of the participants in these associations. But then neither Young Guard, nor Art, nor Soviet Russia, nor Book Chamber, nor Soviet Writer, and I don’t remember who else, were interested in this book.

Since then, I have introduced many of the playwright's texts into literature, from his first play to the last unfinished script. He wrote essays about Doyvber Levin, Yuri Vladimirov, Kharms, Vvedensky, Oleinikov and others. Collections and multivolume editions (and more than once already) of N. A. Zabolotsky, D. I. Kharms, A. I. Vvedensky, K. K. Vaganov, N.M. Oleinikova. About them already everyone knows everything. At least, those who will open this book, if I have time to finish it and if it succeeds in being published. And repeating the already well-known is uninteresting and boring.

Therefore, I will cite only the testimony of 1964 by I. Bakhterev and A. Razumovsky, the only survivors of the Oareuts, about how Schwartz and Oleinikov came to 'recruit' them into children's literature: In early spring In 1927, at an evening in the Circle of Chamber Music Friends (now there is a Puppet Theater under the direction of Yevgeny Demmeni), poetry and prose were read by Nikolai Zabolotsky, Daniil Kharms, Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaganov, Doivber Levin and one of the authors of these lines (i.e. I. Bakhterev. - E. B.). During the intermission, two, as it seemed to us then, not very young people, came backstage: each under thirty. "Before you Kozma Prutkov, please, meet," said one. - “Evgeny Lvovich loves exaggeration. I am the grandson of Kozma Petrovich, but in a straight line, ”another supported the joke. These were two inseparable friends, the editors of the children's department of the State Publishing House - Evgeny Shvarts and the named relative of Prutkov, Nikolai Oleinikov. It was Oleinikov who then came up with the idea to invite the speakers to write something for the children. This proposal was supported by Schwartz, and then by the literary consultant of the children's department of the State Publishing House Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak. The editors were not wrong. The children's poems by Vvedensky and Kharms have stood the test of time - they have been republished quite recently and are very popular with the children. "

Schwartz never republished his children's books of the 1920s, none of them included in his only "children's" collection, which came out when he was gone. Moreover, many years later he would call them "monsters." In their self-esteem, Schwartz was right. They did not survive the twenties, with the exception, perhaps, of his "fabulous" people, and unlike the children's things of his friends - Zabolotsky, Kharms, Vvedensky or Yuri Vladimirov.

I will quote, perhaps, one more short statement by Igor Vladimirovich Bakhterev, defining main feature union of the Oberiuts. “The members of the commonwealth will be brought together not by commonality, but by difference, dissimilarity. Each has his own vision of the world, attitude, his own arsenal of methods of expressiveness. And yet there should be principles, ideas that are equally close to everyone. Poetic instability, ephemerality, allegoricality, each of us opposes concreteness, definiteness, materiality, what Kharms called "art as a cabinet". Everyone should beware of the impending danger of excessive professionalism, which becomes a source of cliches and leveling. "

The appearance of Kharms (and Vvedensky) changed a lot in children's literature of those days. It also influenced Marshak. The poetic language was cleared of literary, traditional technique. Some changes were outlined in prose as well. In any case, the deliberate ease of, as it were, oral, as it were, personal intonation, the tale has ceased to be considered the only type of prose.

All the best things that were written for children in Leningrad at that time were published in "Hedgehogs", "Chizhah" and in separate editions. Among the authors already named are S. Ya.Marshak himself, K.I. Chukovsky, B. Zhitkov, A. Tolstoy, O. Mandelstam, L. Panteleev, V. Bianki, N. Chukovsky, E. Charushin, Lesnik and many others ... dr.

The picture of how the work in the editorial office of these magazines was carried out was described by Irakli Andronikov, who, after graduating from the university, was at one time the secretary of the Children's Department: “It was very nice in“ Hedgehog ”and“ Chizh ”. He (Marshak. - E. B.) I just went there. Somehow I didn’t quite watch how his successors and disciples Yevgeny Shvarts, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Nikolai Oleinikov were doing this business. He said that the magazine was losing its originality. In fact, the magazine was great. It seemed to me that there was some kind of mistake, that I was getting a salary instead of paying for the fact that I work in "Hedgehog" and "Chizh". It was a pleasure. At 12 o'clock, all the members of the editorial board appeared, sat around the table, which occupied almost the entire room, and agreed on what topic they would write on. Each, covering with his hand, wrote his own, laughed, wrote, then threw it to the right. On the left he received a sheet, laughed even louder, added his own, threw to the right, on the left he received a sheet ... When all the sheets went around the table, read all the options, died laughing, chose the best way and everyone started to process it. The artists will come, leave the pictures - and remain. Poets will come, they will leave poems - and they will also remain. The working day has already ended, the corridors are dark, but we have light, laughter and like a holiday. The magazine was always published on time and was interesting. "

Help! Guard!

The boy pulled the apples!

I ask without speaking

Search the thief immediately!

Vanka and Vaska are on guard,

And the old woman is sleeping on a chair.

What is this? What is that?

A thief is not a thief, just a hedgehog!

What the hedgehogs have reached!

Stop! Grab it! Catch! Here you go!

... The hedgehog decided to rob,

To buy the last "Hedgehog"!

Or - like this:

Came to the hairdresser Kolka Karas.

Sit down, ”said the hairdresser laughing.

But instead of hair, he saw a hedgehog

And rushed to the door, screaming and squealing.

But Kolka the prankster did not grieve for long

And he planted a hedgehog for Aunt Natasha.

And aunt Natasha, seeing a hedgehog,

She jumped up like a ball, screeching from fear.

The father heard about these pranks:

Give me a hedgehog! - he cried out at last.

And Kolka, shaking and screaming with laughter,

He brought the printed issue of "Hedgehog".

This was probably not always the case. And although in the editorial room there was a sign in the most conspicuous place:

"SCHEDULE - IN FIG."

the magazines, indeed, always came out on schedule. And they enjoyed extraordinary popularity among the children and their parents. And to this day "Hedgehog" and "Siskin" are considered unsurpassed children's magazines.

It came to curiosities. So once the confectionery factory. Samoilova asked permission to give one of her sweets the name "Hedgehog", and Oleinikov suggested a couplet for them:

In the morning, having eaten candy "Hedgehog",

Well, after eating the "Chizh" candy,

You will fly away to your forefathers in no time!

In general, a lot has already been written about the cheerful working atmosphere in the Children's Department of the GIZ, which was located on the sixth (according to some sources, the fifth) floor of 28 Nevsky Prospekt (in the former Singer house and the House of Books). Every day and every hour there was a fierce competition of witches. For internal use, jokes, practical jokes, fables, ironic odes, poetic and prosaic impromptu were composed. This work was called "folk". The foliage was a sign with a "schedule" and an advertisement for sweets. Or, as Nick said. Chukovsky, "that was the era of childhood literature for children, and her childhood was fun."

Folks were written by everyone - authors and editors (and a rare editor was not an author). More often than others, Evgeny Schwartz or Nikolai Oleinikov turned out to be the winners. Things were worse with impromptu at Daniil Kharms. He trusted paper more easily than oral creativity... And he "won" most often in dreams. This is how his little story (or a big story) "How I Spoke Everyone" was born:

“Once I came to Gosizdat and met in Gosizdat Yevgeny Lvovich Schwartz, who, as always, was poorly dressed, but with a pretense for something. Seeing me, Schwartz began to joke too, as always, unsuccessfully. I joked much more successfully and soon mentally put Schwartz on both shoulder blades.

Everyone around was jealous of my wit, but they did not take any measures, as they literally died of laughter. In particular, Nina Vladimirovna Gernet and David Efimovich Rakhmilovich, who calls himself Yuzhin for euphony, died of laughter.

Seeing that the jokes were bad with me, Schwartz began to slow down his tone and, finally, just swearing at me, said that everyone in Tiflis knows Zabolotsky, and almost no one knows me. Then I got angry and said that I was more historical than Schwartz and Zabolotsky, that a bright spot would remain in history, and they would quickly be forgotten.

Feeling my greatness and great world significance, Schwartz gradually trembled and began to invite me to his place for dinner, saying that there would be a soup with pies for dinner. I fell for this bait and followed Schwartz. However, he disappeared somewhere, leaving me alone on the street. I spat with annoyance at these things and returned to the State Publishing House ... ".

There he met Oleinikov, then went to the Zabolotskys and Vvedensky. Everyone was surprised at the onslaught of his wit and gradually gave up. He went so far that, returning home, even before two o'clock in the morning he talked to himself, unable to stop. So Kharms spoke to everyone, including himself.

Parodies of each other were in great demand. Marshak and Kharms's "Merry Siskins" appeared in the first issue of "Siskin". The next day, Schwartz and Oleinikov were waiting for Kharms in the office. Quite a lot of people have already gathered. Finally, Kharms appeared. Oleinikov took him aside and in a whisper audible to everyone, asked:

And what happened in the forty-fourth apartment with the siskins?

And what happened?

Well, how is it? They say that all the siskins are about to throw back their hooves. Listen ...

Lived in an apartment

Forty-four

Forty-four puny siskins:

Siskin is an alcoholic

Siskin is paranoid

Siskin is a schizophrenic,

Chizh is a simulator,

Siskin is a paralytic

Siskin is a syphilitic,

Siskin is a senile,

Chizh is an idiot.

Another time, Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky decided to awaken the children’s interest in writing poetry and published three and a half lines in “Hedgehog”:

Flew into our quiet forests

Striped Terrible Wasp ...

Bit a hippo in the stomach

Hippo ...,

inviting the children to continue their poems, because he himself, as if he could not come up with anything further. And the best sequel, they say, will be published.

Oleinikov, Schwartz and Kharms also decided to take part in the competition. Schwartz stuck the poem of this collective creativity between the letters sent. Looking through these letters, Chukovsky was pleased: "Well done, well done guys ..." And finally came across this:

Flew into our quiet forests

Striped Terrible Wasp ...

Bit a hippo in the stomach

Hippo in a heart attack, about to die.

And the wasp is already spinning in the editorial office -

Marshak stuck a sting in the buttock,

And Oleinikov yells in horror:

He does not allow Schwartz to escape to Nevsky.

The wasp would have bitten everyone, not sparing, -

He knocked his feet

He shouted at the wasp:

Fly away from here you wasp

Get out to your wild forests! "

………………………………

And the hippo licks the belly

He will soon, he will soon, he will soon pass!

Korney Ivanovich understood everything: "I always said that talented uncles grow out of talented children ...".

But often similar, though untalented, graphomaniac "folk", were found by editors in the mail, they were delivered to the sixth floor of the Singer house by the authors themselves. Several of these "masterpieces" were recorded by Schwartz in "Notebook No. 1", which has already been discussed.

“Today a limping, intelligent, irrepressibly polite, red-lipped, middle-aged, unemployed man brought books for children. Poems, for example, are:

But there have been meetings of the editorial board of the Children's Department and boring. Then everyone "was saved" as best he could. So, for example, at the editorial board, where it was about folklore, the yearning Zabolotsky amused himself by composing riddles on the topic of the meeting. As he was born, he wrote them down on bibliographic cards and handed them over with a "sly air" to E.S. Paperna, who had recently joined her Bakhmut friends and now served as editor-in-chief. The originals of these mysteries have not survived, but Esther Solomonovna remembered some of them to the very end of her days:

Hole where I poppin

A remedy made from a tree.

I don’t understand your name

Although there is a neighborhood between us.

He wrote down the answer right there - upside down:

That takes up little space,

However, the best part of the body?

He feeds everyone, everyone in their youth

Yes, and adults are not idle.

It is the enemy of the liver,

To plunge that liver into anger.

However, anyone who is weak

It is swallowed by the happiness of the virgins.

Cereal than you can cut,

Also with what you can hammer in a nail,

Carefully on the board

Anyone can mate.

But the game of falling in love with Grunya Levitina had a special place in the life of the editorial board ...

The fable "Siskin and Hedgehog" was written by I.A. Krylov in 1814. The fable is based on the original plot, without the use of borrowings. Main character fables, timid siskin, modestly chirps in the bushes, not trying to impress anyone with his voice. But when the sunrise begins, which the author compares with the mythical Phoebus, the nightingales begin to sing in the whole area, praising the rising star. The siskin immediately stops singing.

When the Hedgehog asked why he stopped singing, the Chizh replies that his voice is not good enough to glorify Phoebus.

The reason for writing the fable was the events associated with the deposition of Napoleon I. After the Russian troops, having driven the invaders from Russia, reached Paris, and Napoleon was defeated, the Russian emperor acted as the "Savior of the peoples of Europe." Domestic poets and writers in every way began to praise the valor and merits of Alexander I. Krylov was almost the only one of all to be silent. Naturally, this provoked attacks on him from flatterers-writers. The fabulist had to make excuses and in 1814 wrote the fable "Siskin and the Hedgehog" on the return of Alexander I after the capture of Paris.

In this fable, Phoebus (the sun), radiant, rising from across the seas, is Emperor Alexander I, returning from abroad in his splendor and glory. The choir of loud nightingales singing to the glory of Phoebe is Derzhavin, Karamzin, Zhukovsky with their poems in honor of the winner. And the timid Chizh is Krylov himself, who is not aware of enough strength in himself to sing about the high-profile deeds of Alexander Pavlovich; he "does not have such a voice." Krylov feels more than he says: "I am crushing and regret that I was not given more talent for my destiny ..."

The fable "Siskin and the Hedgehog" originally stood out among the pompous verses for its simplicity and survived all the noisy expressions of delight. The fable can be considered a development of the thought thrown in passing by Karamzin in his 1793 poem: "Should I praise with a quiet lyre the one that will soon embrace the whole world with porphyry." At the end of the fable, Krylov mentions the ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar, emphasizing that in comparison with this famous poet, his, Krylov's, abilities are insufficient to sing the praises of the emperor.

The fable lacks explicit morality. But the main message of the work is the author's desire for modesty and, at the same time, the fable contains an element of opposing the humble Chizh to the eloquent nightingales.

Of course, I heard about this magazine, saw it in the "Detgiz" store, but passed by ... But yesterday several old issues fell into my hands. At the request of the girls, I tell and show:

First, some information from the Internet:

"Literary and art magazine for children" Chizh and Yozh "was revived by the staff of the publishing house" Detgiz "in 1998 and is the successor of the famous Leningrad-Petersburg magazines of the 20-30s." Chizh "(" extremely interesting magazine ") and" Yozh "( "monthly magazine"), created with the participation of N. Oleinikov, D. Kharms, A. Vvedensky and other famous writers with the direct participation of Marshak and Chukovsky. "

"The funny and serious, entertaining and developing" Chizh and Hedgehog "publishes the best modern stories, short stories and poems for children. In the" Che classics "- unknown masterpieces of widely known authors." New Che library "- debuts of young poets and artists , students of creative universities of St. Petersburg and its environs, in the heading "Children for adults" - poems, stories and illustrations by novice authors of preschool and junior school age... There is also "CHE Abroad", "Visiting" CHE "," Adults for Children "," Bookcase"," I will take you to the museum "..."

Magazine for junior schoolchildren, volume - 64 pages, published 2 times a year.

The numbers that fell into my hands are thematic: Year of the Family, Year of the Russian Language, Year of Youth, 100 years of D.S. Likhachev, 60 years since the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. But the materials are not 100% only about this, there are a lot of things in the magazines.

Yesterday I read the issue dedicated to the Victory. I read it with tears in my eyes, and the topic is this, and I am ...

The creativity of V.S. Vysotsky is represented not only by "Songs of the Earth", but also by a fragment of a comic work about the war in 5 "a". It seems to me that a long time ago I read this work entirely in the magazine "Pioneer")

In this issue of the magazine Mikhail Yasnov is a translator, in other issues his poems are found very often. And Alexey Shevchenko. Having looked through, I saw an excerpt from A. Shibaev's book, and stories by E. Rakitina and many authors and artists discussed in the community.

I didn’t delay writing the post, because I don’t think I’ll just read the magazines one by one))) I’m more interested in "digesting" what I read in portions ...

JOURNALS "EZH" AND "CHIZH"

Still, withstand competition from Leningrad magazines "Hedgehog"(1928-1935) and "Chizh"(1930-1941) not a single children's periodical of those years was able to. Moreover, the writer Nikolai Chukovsky even claimed that "never in Russia, neither before nor after, there have been such sincerely funny, truly literary, childishly mischievous children's magazines"

The authorship of the future "Siskins" and "Hedgehogs" was formed around the children's department of the state publishing house (GIZ) in Leningrad. It was created in 1924 on the initiative of K. I. Chukovsky... Its official head was SN Gusin, and the unofficial "ruler" (chief consultant) was S. Ya. Marshak, thanks to whom a constellation of writers and artists, unique in its composition, was concentrated here by the end of the 1920s. In the first years of its existence, the department was least of all similar to a state institution, but rather resembled a literary studio, where the principles of new literature for children were developed, approved and implemented; Chroniclers of the era invariably recall the joyful atmosphere of creativity that prevailed in the "Marshak Academy". Any visitor to the fifth floor of the House of Books on Nevsky Prospect, where it was located, could become a witness, and most often a participant in an unexpectedly comic scene, a funny joke, and sometimes even a whole performance. Oddly enough, such an atmosphere not only did not interfere with the work that Marshak's associates served, but, on the contrary, increased the labor indicators of all employees of the cheerful workshop. Day by day, exercising their imagination, imagination and wit, writers and artists maintained the highest creative tone, acquired unique professional qualities necessary for the creators of a fun children's book.

The idea of ​​creating a new " Monthly magazine "(abbreviated -" Hedgehog ")... The magazine was designed for the audience of the middle school age - the pioneers. To cooperation in "Hedgehog" Marshak attracted writers who made up the author's group of the magazine "Sparrow"(v Last year editions - "New Robinson"), issued from 1923-1925. in Petrograd. Many works of B. Zhitkov, V. Bianki, M. Ilyin, E. Schwartz, N. Oleinikov, E. Vereyskaya were first seen on the pages of "Sparrow" and "New Robinson". The most daring and successful of Marshak's numerous "selection" experiments, the result of which was almost always the discovery of new talented authors, was the experience of inviting the leaders of the young, but already disgraced literary group "OBERIU" - D to the children's department (and then to magazines) Kharms, A. Vvedensky, N. Zabolotsky. The patriarch of children's literature unmistakably caught in the “abstruse” poetry of the “Oberiuts” qualities that could enrich literature for children: sincerity of feelings, freshness of rhythms, a tendency to bizarre word-creation, non-standard thinking. Soon the "Oberiuts" really became the leading force in children's literature.

The participation of the Oberiut poets in "Chizhe" and "Hedgehog", of course, cast a shadow on the magazines themselves, aroused suspicious attitude towards them in terms of ideology. They could be seen literally in the light. The campaign against them began in the "year of the great turning point" - a coincidence that hardly needs commentary - when devastating articles appeared condemning play poetry and fairy tales (the infamous "fight against Chukovshchina"). It is quite understandable that after the arrest of the Oberiuts, all their children's books, without exception, were included in the prohibitive lists of the Glavlit and were destroyed (except for a few copies preserved in library schools - special depositories of the largest libraries).

Due to the enormous employment in the children's department, Marshak was unable to take over the management of the new magazine, but limited himself only to the functions of a consultant-observer. Young talented writers N. Oleinikov and E. Schwartz became the chief editors and creators of the "Hedgehog", whose creative fates crossed back in the early 1920s in the editorial office of the "Zaboy" magazine (Bakhmut, Donetsk province) and who had a great personal friendship ...

Nikolay Makarovich Oleinikov(1898-1937) - Behind him already had a solid experience of working as a journalist and editor, he showed himself as a talented organizer: he was one from the main founders of the first Donbass writing organization "Zaboy". From 1926-1928 he fruitfully worked in the capital's magazines, was involved in organizing radio broadcasting for children, published two children's books - "Who is more cunning" and "Battle days" (both in 1927).

By this time, his colleague had no less experience - Evgeny Lvovich Schwartz(1896-1958). Before joining the editorial office of the children's department, he worked for several years as a professional actor in Rostov-on-Don, collaborated in the All-Russian Kochegarka newspaper (Artemovsk), and served as executive secretary in the Leningrad magazine. Schwartz began to actively publish in 1925 - he published several books for children, the most famous of which were "The War of Petrushka and Stepka Rastrepka" and "The Story of an Old Balalaika" (both in 1925). Thanks to the joint efforts of these two talented people: N. Oleinikov (indefatigable inventor, humorist, "ringleader") and E. Schwartz (a brilliant storyteller, dreamer and improviser), a creative and iridescent atmosphere reigned in the editorial office of the magazine, close in spirit to the cheerful "Marshak Academy" ...

The first issue of the magazine "Hedgehog" (organ of the Central Bureau of Young Pioneers) came to readers in February 1928. From the very beginning of its activity, the editors developed the habit of talking to their readers as equals - naturally and cheerfully, without boring moralizing and lisping. The creators of the magazine preferred to talk about serious things in a fun way, about difficult things in an accessible way, they appreciated an active life position in a person and, by all available means, brought it up with their readers. They did not forget about the age of those to whom their magazine was addressed, so the subscribers of "Hedgehog" never knew what monotony, monotony and boredom are. Opening, as a rule, with cheerful verses or interesting story, the cunning "Hedgehog" knew how to keep the attention of his "hedgehogs" until the very last page.

Daniil Ivanovich Kharms has been among the most active and active employees of the magazine since its inception. In 1928 he was published in almost every issue of The Hedgehog, publishing his most famous works on its pages: the poems “Ivan Ivanovich Samovar”, “Ivan Toporyshkin”, the tale of giants “First and Second”, the story “ About how the old woman bought ink "and others. The witty, perky works of Kharms aroused in the readers of" Hedgehog "a cheerful, optimistic vision of the world, activated his thinking, developed resourcefulness and imagination. Kharms's creativity, organically connected with folk comedians, forced the reader to perceive the sound of his native language in a new way, revealed to him the richness of its rhythms and colors. With his original work, Kharms made an invaluable contribution to the fun genres of Russian children's literature, continued and multiplied the traditions of K. Chukovsky and S. Marshak.

In 1928, the magazine began publishing a series of action-packed and funny reports about the adventures of Makar the Ferocious - "the only writer who composes his works while riding a horse." The image of this brave horseman and inquisitive traveler is the fruit of N. Oleinikov's imagination. He became the favorite hero of the children of the pre-war period. The poems of A. Vvedensky, N. Zabolotsky and a very young poet Yu. Vladimirov also became an unexpected and pleasant discovery for the first readers of the magazine.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the creative team of the magazine was subjected to harsh and unfair criticism. The authors of numerous articles (usually of a low theoretical level) considered it their duty to protect the proletarian child from "alien class influences" in children's literature, declared war on "shape-shifters" and "chepushinka". The tales of K. Chukovsky and S. Marshak, children's poetry of the "Oberiuts", everything that was associated with funny genres in creativity for children came under fire of criticism.

In practice, these magazines have always been under suspicion. The "apolitical", "unprincipled" titles of the magazines provoked irritation. Already the first issues of the EZh magazine were subjected to organized criticism. For example, the title of one of the articles that appeared after the first issue speaks for itself: “How“ EZh ”teaches children about hooliganism by E. Dvinsky (“ Komsomolskaya Pravda ”, 1928, April 24).

In the early 30s. The magazines attracted the wary attention of the Glavlit itself, who constantly bombarded the Leningrad censorship with circulars and reminders of this kind: “We draw attention to the EZh magazine: insufficiently careful editing, naturalistic scenes, etc. Political control must be achieved through the editorial office to cleanse the magazine from the indicated defects, especially those that are unacceptable in children's literature. " The censors closely followed the so-called "unwanted context".

V 1931-1932... children's newspapers and magazines published mainly materials related to the development of industry and Agriculture our country, as well as materials on various political events in the world. Publicistic and documentary genres have grown so much and rooted in children's periodicals that they practically ousted other genres that are closer to a child. Moreover, the quality of this kind of publications left much to be desired - written in dry, boring language, they were often a heap of many events and facts inaccessible to the child's understanding. Over the years, the numbers of the Hedgehog, from the first to the last page, have also been given to the most pressing topics put forward by the time. However, their journalism was significantly different in quality from the products of other publications. War with the Dnieper by S. Marshak, and M. Ilyin's essays on the first five-year plan, and the fiery correspondence of B. Zhitkov, and non-standard publicistic works by N. Oleinikov, L. Savelyev, E. Schwartz sounded bright and convincing from the pages of The Hedgehog. , S. Bezborodova, V. Ketlinskaya, S. Bochkova. Their authors, like everyone else, spoke with their readers about the most difficult issues modernity and the tasks facing young pioneers, but they did it not pedantically and declaratively, without chatter and false pathos, but with enthusiasm and passion.

N. Oleinikov's journalistic work is filled with interesting plot and compositional finds, humor, sincerity of feelings. His name is associated with the emergence of a new genre in Soviet literature - fictional journalism for children. The work of M. Ilyin was also truly innovative. Whatever was discussed in M. Ilyin's essays, the little reader always felt himself not an outside observer, but an active participant in the described events - he empathized with them, reflected on the problems that had arisen, together with the author tried to find the only correct ways to eliminate them; in addition, he always received a lot of incidental information, useful and entertaining.

Nor were such findings of the editorial board as "A Map with Adventures" (conducted by E. Schwartz), which was published in almost every issue of the magazine. The presence of this permanent heading allowed the editorial board to promptly respond to all significant events in the country and abroad, including them in the route of the fascinating adventures of the brave rider Makar the Ferocious.

In January 1930, the first issue of the children's magazine "Chizh" was published, addressed to the readers younger age... Initially, it was published as a supplement to the "Hedgehog", but then acquired the status of an independent publication. "Extremely Interesting Magazine"- this is how the abbreviation of the new magazine was revealed. The desire of the authors of "The Hedgehog" to appeal to a younger audience was justified and natural. It coincided with their pedagogical views, taking into account the age characteristics of readers - their constant growth, development and maturation. The creation of a new journal allowed for continuity between different age groups readers.

From 1932 to 1937 editorial board of "Chizha" was in charge Nina Vladimirovna Gernet... “The editorial board was funny,” she recalls. “Writers and artists came as if they were home, sat all day, talking, reading, inventing, staging literary pranks and hoaxes. It was almost impossible for us, the editorial staff, to deal directly with the magazine. But we caught poems, themes, thoughts that could be useful to the magazine; worked when the hungry writers went to dinner. "

In 1933-1934. "Chyzh" and "Hedgehog" managed to revive the traditions of "funny" magazines, from which they were forced to retreat in the early 30s, and again, the merry community of writers and artists ruled their pages. During these years D. Kharms worked on the creation of a cycle of stories about Professor Trubochkin, came up with comics about the adventures of "Clever Masha". Almost every magazine published cheerful, without a shadow of fake common people, E. Schwartz's people. A lot of cheerful mischief and inventions were presented to the readers of "Chizha" and "Little Red Riding Hood" ("a magazine in a magazine"), where D. Kharms, A. Vvedensky, E. Schwartz, N. Oleinikov, E. Papernaya, N. Dilaktorskaya gave their works , N. Gernet. The editors and authors of the journals were in constant search of literary and artistic innovations, not stereotyped forms of material presentation.

The magazines also introduced their readers to the treasury of world classical literature: they published on their pages the famous satirical novels - "Gargantua and Pantagruel" by F. Rabelais and "The Adventures of Gulliver" by J. Swift. They were adapted for reading by N. Zabolotsky.

Into the history of culture Soviet Russia a significant contribution was made by the artists who worked on the creation children's book illustration... Overcoming the imperfect printing capabilities of book publishers, they created true masterpieces, which, in terms of impact, sometimes surpassed literary material. In this sense, "Hedgehog" and "Chizh" were also lucky. The best artists of that time (each in his own genre) worked on creating a unique look for the magazines: B. Antonovsky, B. Malakhovsky; N. Radlov; E. Charushin and V. Kurdova; V. Konashevich and Y. Vasnetsov. The list of artists was not limited only to these names, A. Pakhomov, V. Lebedev, N. Tyrsa, B. Semenov, A. Poret, V. Ermolaeva, N. Lapshin, P. Sokolov, L. Yudin, E. Safonova, V. Sterligov and many others.

The “fatal” 30s, which turned into a tragedy for all our people, did not pass without a trace for the authors and editorial staff of the Leningrad children's department. The arrest of N. Oleinikov (July 3, 1937) was followed by a whole wave of repressions: "at least 9 editorial staff" were arrested, including the well-known children's writer and critic T.G. Gabbe, long-term editor of the children's department A. I. Lyubarskaya, secretary of the editorial board of the magazines "Chizh" and "Hedgehog" GD Levitin. A group of editorial workers who remained at large were asked to write a letter of resignation of their own free will. This is how N.V. Gernet left the editorial activity forever. S. Marshak was also close to being arrested.

Publications of the section Literature

The first children's magazines

Children's magazines were a real window into the world for Soviet schoolchildren: they published and funny stories, and serious literature, and entertaining tasks, and developing contests. Each magazine of the Soviet era, in one way or another, fulfilled an educational function - a generation of future Soviet citizens grew up on their didactic publications. Together with the portal "Kultura.RF" we leaf through the archives and get acquainted with the main children's heroes of the pre-war era.

"Northern Lights" (1919-1920)

Cover of the Northern Lights magazine, No. 10-12, 1919. Photo from the archive of digitized materials of the National Electronic Children's Library.

Page of the magazine "Northern Lights", No. 10-12, 1919. Photo from the archive of digitized materials of the National Electronic Children's Library.

Maksim Gorky. Photo: citaty.mira5.com

The Northern Lights magazine, the brainchild of Maxim Gorky, was the very first Soviet edition for children from 9 to 12 years old. Materials in it were admitted exclusively ideologically correct. For example, "Northern Lights" published essays on the everyday life of miners in Central Asia; the poem "Conquered Palaces" - about the palaces that after the revolution belonged not to the tsars, but to the people; the anti-religious story "Yashka" about a desperate Red Army soldier who refused paradise in order to return to earth to fight for a just cause. It is on such literature, and not on fairy tales According to the creators of the magazine, the children of the new country should have been brought up.

The magazine was published in Petrograd for a very short time, about two years. The design of the issues was ascetic and modest: graphic black-and-white illustrations diluted two columns of text. Despite this, "Northern Lights" quickly gained its audience, and in 1920 the magazine was published with a circulation of almost 1,500 copies. However, this did not save him from closing: during the period Civil war there was simply not enough paper for the constant issue of a children's magazine in the city.

"New Robinson" (1923-1925)

Cover of the New Robinson magazine, No. 12, 1924. Photo: violity.ru

Cover of the New Robinson magazine, # 8, 1926. Photo: violity.ru

New Robinson magazine page. Photo: expositions.nlr.ru

Samuel Marshak. Photo: polit.ru

This legendary Soviet magazine was originally published under the name "Sparrow", but the publishers considered this name too frivolous. The magazine received a new, more serious one in 1924 and became famous with it.

"New Robinson" was published on the basis of the Leningrad children's literature studio, headed by Samuil Marshak. The famous children's poet attracted young and talented writers to the magazine, who later became classics of children's books: Vitaly Bianki, Boris Zhitkov, Yevgeny Schwartz.

The lyrics in New Robinson were less biased than in Northern Lights. The editorial board under the leadership of Marshak understood that children needed a fun and interesting publication. Therefore, the magazine published popular science essays, stories about nature, humorous poems and notes. He gave the floor to the young readers themselves: he published letters from "kids correspondents", that is, "children's correspondents" about their lives and hobbies, as well as reviews of the magazine itself. The bold design of "New Robinson" matched the NEP era and was shaped by the influence of constructivism in painting: bright color combinations, the play of shapes, fonts and experiments with composition.

The magazine closed in 1925 after another wave of criticism from the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers for its "free disposition".

"Hedgehog" (1928-1935)

The cover of the magazine "The Hedgehog", # 9, 1928. Photo: expositions.nlr

Cover of the magazine "The Hedgehog", # 1, 1928. Photo: expositions.nlr

Fragment of the magazine "Hedgehog". Photo: expositions.nlr

Fragment of the magazine "Hedgehog". Photo: d-harms.ru

The magazine "Hedgehog" - in the transcript "monthly magazine" - was another striking project of Samuil Marshak and the unofficial heir to "New Robinson". Oberiut poets, who did not recognize traditional forms of literature, wrote for the first time in The Hedgehog; Daniil Kharms, Alexander Vvedensky, Nikolai Oleinikov and Nikolai Zabolotsky were published for the first time. The “Hedgehog” was designed by famous Soviet artists Vladimir Lebedev, Yuri Vasnetsov and Nikolai Radlov. Despite the fact that the magazine did not differ in color variety, it was richly illustrated with graphics and black and white comics, various fonts, silhouettes and even photographs were used for its design.

In the early years, the magazine focused not on the ideological education of children, but on humor, fascinating and informative texts, and poetic amusements. The Hedgehog published stories about animals, about the life of African peoples, about customs different countries, about travels to the North and South Poles. Children were offered detailed instructions on the creation of bows and slingshots, schemes for modeling aircraft and hang gliders. The idea of ​​communist enlightenment found its original embodiment in the magazine: instead of opportunistic propaganda texts, it published letters from young pioneers from the Soviet republics and even foreign countries. In them they themselves talked about life, about themselves and about the "benefits of socialism."

However, this approach was not enough. In 1935, the magazine was closed after prolonged persecution in the proletarian publications, where its policy in the field of education was called alien to Soviet children.

"Siskin" (1930-1941)

Cover of the magazine "Chizh", No. 3, 1938. Photo: expositions.nlr.ru

Fragment of the magazine "Chizh", No. 3, 1932. Photo: expositions.nlr.ru

Evgeny Schwartz. Photo: bel.kp.ru

Nikolay Oleinikov. Photo: polit.ru

The Extremely Interesting Magazine was first published as a supplement to the Hedgehog, but soon became an independent publication. In the early years, the Hedgehog team was engaged in its release. Nikolay Oleinikov and Evgeny Schwartz, trying to preserve the "Hedgehog" policy, paid much attention to the publication of non-ideological poems, cognitive materials and games. They have been adapted for young readers. For example, in the “Chizha School” heading, the children were taught how to carefully pour milk into a glass, cut bread and understand what time the clock shows. For entertainment, they published puzzles, puzzles and instructions on how to make toys with their own hands from scrap materials.

The target audience of "Chizha" was preschoolers, so the magazine was rich in diverse illustrations and small literary genres, as well as fictional texts like letters on behalf of the "fat tomato" and "straight carrots" who dream of getting into the soup for children. In the design, the artists gave preference to schematic cartoon illustrations, watercolor sketches and satirical sketches. The works of the outstanding book illustrator Vladimir Konashevich, who became famous as the author classic design books by Korney Chukovsky, Agnia Barto and Samuil Marshak.

"Siskin" inherited the spirit of freedom of creativity of the Oberiuts, they communicated with children not from the standpoint of proletarian education, but on an equal footing, as with little friends. The editorial board, nevertheless, did not manage to avoid party influence - therefore, politicized materials such as the tale of little Volodya Ulyanov or a comic strip about how Lenin came from abroad and made a revolution appeared on the pages of Chizh.

The magazine existed until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War; at various times, in addition to the Oberiuts, Georgy Dietrich, Tamara Gabbe, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Yuri German were published in it.

Pioneer (1924 - present)

Cover of the magazine "Pioneer", No. 1, 1967. Photo: bibliograph.ru

Fragment of the "Pioneer" magazine, 1925. Photo: wordpress.com

Roots Chukovsky. Photo: bibliograph.ru

Konstantin Paustovsky. Photo: paustovskiy.od.ua

This magazine was directly addressed to a true Soviet pioneer child. Pioneer appeared in the mid-1920s and continued until the early 1990s. Despite the tendentiousness of its name, the early Pioneer was a vibrant literary publication. The strongest children's authors of the era wrote for him - Korney Chukovsky, Samuil Marshak, Konstantin Paustovsky, Lev Kassil, Veniamin Kaverin, Agnia Barto. There was also a special section in the magazine "Ship", in which the readers themselves were already sharing their work.

The publication fully corresponded to the needs of the era: the editors gave preference to socialist realist texts. The Pioneer first published the story “The Drummer's Fate” by Arkady Gaidar, “Poems about Uncle Stepa” by Sergei Mikhalkov, “Old Man Hottabych” by Lazar Lagin and many other works. This tendency also concerned the design of the publication: the magazine did not contain unusual avant-garde illustrations - only realistic, joyful Soviet pioneers, smiling children from the countries of the socialist camp, heroic Komsomol members and participants in the Civil War.

"Murzilka" (1924 - present)

Cover of the Murzilka magazine, No. 6, 1994. Photo from the archives of the National Electronic Children's Library.

In "Murzilka" there have always been many entertaining games, easy instructions on how to create toys and crafts. As a magazine for the little ones - those who were just learning to read - "Murzilka" was generously illustrated by the masters of the era: Vasily Vatagin, Boris Dekhterev, Nikolai Radlov and others. Their works were distinguished by the uniqueness of the author's styles, so the design of the magazine was very diverse. Caricature illustrations of the rhymes were flanked by realistic images of plants and animals, and playful sketches of hooligans were juxtaposed with detailed children's portraits.

The first issues were saturated and literary texts corresponding to the time. For example, in the first issue of "Murzilka" there was published the story "Vanyushka's happiness" about the eternally hungry and unhappy boy Vanya, for whom his mother worked too much. Children from orphanage: they took him to them, and the boy healed happily.

Many articles have been devoted to Soviet heroes- to pilots and sailors, some of the materials sang happy life Octobrists who dreamed of growing up as soon as possible and becoming real communists.