Journey back in time with these whimsical children’s poetry books from the Soviet Union
Instead of American-style comics to play with, generations of children in the Soviet Union had colourful poetry books written and illustrated by some of the country’s biggest names.
12 December 2019
Text:
Estrella Amarilla
Ranging from the funny and caustic to the endlessly moralistic, brightly-illustrated poetry books were a bedtime mainstay for generations of Soviet children.
Now the verses and their artwork are reappearing on your feed, scanned and arranged by Instagram account @Stihodrom.
Printed between 1927 and 1991, the poems include verses penned by celebrated Soviet poet and dissident Joseph Brodsky. But the books aren’t just an exercise in translation: they’re a study of Soviet fine art, featuring social realist, abstract, and conceptual work from the likes of Aleksandr Deyneka and Victor Pivovarov, a renowned member of the Moscow Conceptualist movement.
