KOMPASGUIDE Foreign rights catalogue - AWARD-WINNING BOOKS FROM RUSSIA - SPRING 2018
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AWARD-WINNING
BOOKS FROM
RUSSIA
KOMPASGUIDE
Foreign rights catalogue
SPRING 2018
1
“It is important for
us that books
could become
a cause for
a dialogue”
This year our publishing house celebrates its 9th
anniversary. During this time, we have published
over 300 books. We are happy to realize the half of
them was written by Russian authors. Many popular
Russian winners of children’s literature awards were
published for the first time by KompasGuide. And
we appreciate that these writers come back to us to
publish their new books.
Our publishing house has made Russian readers
familiar with many renowned foreign authors, who
write in French, Spanish Japanese, Italian… But our
books, which are written in Russian, are translated
as well into Korean, Chinese, Lithuanian, French,
Vietnamese and Dutch languages. This is also very
important to us.
No matter how good classic children’s literature
could be, kids and teenagers need books sharing
their peers’ worldview. Even if their storylines
involve time traveling (like in Victoria Lederman’s The May(a) Calendar), advising bugs (like in Julia Kuznetsova’s
Fib Tiny Beetle), or a talking bicycle (Nina Dashevskaya’s Willy), the main thing is that the settings of a classroom,
a hospital or a summer camp feel real.
Teenagers, despite all stereotypes, enjoy reading. But they want to read not the books from a school curriculum, but
the ones that can speak their language. And they are ready to actively partake in shaping the society they live in and
belong to. In truth, they are looking for a dialogue.
We hope our characters have no ideology that we could forcefully promote through the book market. Our characters
are mostly individualistic. And the topics they discuss are absolutely different. KompasGuide offers a concept of
children’s reading. Our books are for thinking kids and teenagers. Any book, even if it’s written for 5-year-old kids,
must help them to understand something.
Most books for teenagers published by KompasGuide encourage them to ask adults for answers. We firmly believe
children have the right to know what is important to them. They must feel free to ask about things they are interested
in. It is vital for children to understand what this world is really like and to be sure their family does not hide anything
from them.
That is why KompasGuide has published books that are dealing with death. With the Great Patriotic War. With the
mass prosecutions of 1937. With diseases. With parent’s divorce. With troubles and joys of complicated school life.
It is important for us that parents could see KompasGuide books not as just something you give a child to read, but
as a link between the world of children and the world of adults, a cause for a dialogue. No matter if this dialogue is
easy or hard, it is essential for both sides. That is what we are working for.
Vitali Ziusko, KompasGuide Editor-in-Chief
2
Not only a publishing house,
but also a trend-setter
In 2017, KompasGuide Publishing House was the curator of children’s books’ floor at Non/Fictio№
19, the largest and the most influential book fair in Russia. Three main projects were realized there:
firstly, we established Ecology as the tagline of children’s program; secondly, we initiated the very
first Librarian Day as a part of Non/Fictio№ fair; thirdly, we prepared an exhibition “Children Books
from 1917 till 2017” (in collaboration with Russian State Children’s Library).
Librarian Day
For the first time in 19 years Non/Fictio№ fair organized a special day — November, 30 — for librarians. Curator of
children’s and professional programs (KompasGuide) and media partner («Library at school» magazine) hope that
such «Library Thursday» will become a tradition at the Fair.
Children Books from 1917 till 2017
It is not easy to look through all the names, books and events in Soviet/Russian children’s literature of the last ten
decades. The exhibition “Children Books from 1917 till 2017. History with continuation” sheds light on the most
brilliant of them: since the release of “Krokodil” by K. I. Chukovsky, to the new books of 21th century. This was the
very first attempt to cover this subject, to evaluate the whole history of children’s literature in Soviet Union and
Russia.
Our guests
We invited two celebrated foreign authors: Timothée de Fombelle (France) and Nobuko Ichikawa (Japan). They were
special guests on the opening ceremony on Non/Fictio№ fair; they visited several schools and libraries in Moscow
and spent lots of hours talking about their books.
Top-7 bestsellers of KompasGuide
• May(a) Calendar by Victoria Lederman (103 000 copies)
• Big Little Girl by Maria Bershadskaya (over 100 000 copies)
• Sugar Child by Olga Gromova (61 000 copies)
• Keshka by Andrey and Natalia Snegiriov (52 000 copies)
• When the Angels Are Resting by Marina Aromshtam (41 000 copies)
• R Home by Julia Kuznetsova (32 000 copies)
• Cloud Regiment by Eduard Verkin (31 000 copies)
Our White Ravens books (selected by the
International Youth Library
(IYL) in Munich, Germany):
• Sugar Child by Olga Gromova
• The Red, Yellow and Blue Ones by Maria
Martirossova
• Photos for Memory by Maria Martirossova
• When the Angels Are Resting by Marina
Aromshtam
• Ice-cream in Wafer Cups by Maria Boteva
• The Raven by Eugene Rudashevsky
3
Similar to: The Boy in the Striped
Pyjamas by John Boyne
SUGAR CHILD:
A BIG STORY OF A LITTLE GIRL
In modern Russian literature, especially in children’s literature, few books become a sensation. Not
every year it is possible to find a book, which is read and discussed almost by everyone.
Olga Gromova’s Sugar Child, first published in 2014, has been reissued several times, and its 2017
reissue differs from the others: it’s a “grown-up” version, with a new cover and illustrations. The
author of the new cover is Ksenia Dereka. Her illustration won the reader’s competition held by
KompasGuide and Illustrators.ru site in social networks in June 2017.
Sugar Child tells the story of a 5-year-old girl Elya, who was sent with her mother to a prison camp
in Kirgizia as family members of an “enemy of the people”. Settling into a new place is hard, looking
back on happy days in Moscow is painful and getting to know strange people is scary. However, this
novella, despite its difficult subject, is its own way bright and optimistic: new place will be settled
into, a grown-up Elya will see Moscow again and good people will be found found anywhere.
Olga Gromova
SUGAR CHILD
Illustrated by Maria Pasternak,
Сover by Xenia Dereka
KompasGuide, 2014; KompasGuide, 2017,160 pp.
11+
War Childhood series
TAGS: true story, coming-
of-age, survival experience,
Stalin’s era, mother/daughter
relationship, historical drama.
0c opie s!
6 1 00
AWARDS:
• Children’s Choices (2015)
• Leo Tolstoy Prize Shortlist
The novel based on true
• Children’s of Saint Petersburg
story of a 5-year-old
and Region choice
girl, who was sent with • V. Krapivin International Prize
her mother to a camp • Kniguru Prize Longlist
in Kirgizia as family
members of an “enemy
of the people”.
4
Why is Sugar Child beloved by readers?
Based on a true story. Elya — whose real name is, in fact, Stella Nudolskaya — was only five at the beginning of
Sugar Child, this is why her memories are vague. Her mother’s stories and grown-up contemplation helped a bit, but
getting rid of this vagueness completely is impossible. The memory grasps episodes that happened 70 years ago,
and this obvious uncertainty brings a special charm to Elya’s/Stella’s story. The character seems to talk to the reader
at this very moment and we are listening to her speech, sometimes confused and self-contradictory.
Optimistic despite the situation. Sugar Child is full of scary and cruel scenes, but none of them overcome its
overall light and inspiring tone. It is not just a set of disjointed episodes from the 1930-40s, with storyline substituted
by character development, but it serves as an effective antidepressant: no matter what challenges Stella’s family
has to face, good people are always around. This tragic story inoculates its readers against self-doubt, dispassion,
stereotypes, inability to see the other side of a horrible era.
Heart-warming without being tear-jerking. The protagonist is surrounded by characters causing various
emotions, from sympathy to pride, but she seldom deals with disgusting or unpleasant people. The immaculate
balance between sentimentality and ability to make the readers feel moved, the superbly described “spirit of the
«
time” and its rich and realistic characters make Sugar Child a work that deserves to be reissued over and over.
When they were pleased with me, they called me “a good girl”, but the highest praise
was “a good person”. Being“a good person” meant a lot of things.
Good people do everything on their own.
A person can do everything, first with someone’s help, and later on their own. For ex-
ample, good people can dress and wash themselves when they are three and a half. And
at older age they play on their own, because they know enough to make up stories from
the ones they already know.
Good people fear nothing.
Only those who fear are afraid of something. If you fear nothing, you can’t be afraid of
anything. And then you’re a brave person.
Good people untie their knots themselves.
In your life you face many knots. Cutting them is the simplest thing, but a good person
must know how to untie them.
«
Good people are patient.
It turned out being patient was not that hard. Instead of crying you could hold your
breath and wait. If you didn’t cry at once, there was no point in crying later. This was
really helpful in fights.
RIGHTS SOLD TO:
Belgium Netherlands Bulgaria France
5
WAR CHILDHOOD SERIES:
NEW WAY OF UNDERSTANDING WWII
Following heroic war literature, «lieutenant prose» and mythologization of 1930–40s, post
modernism added a new voice, a voice of a child, to the literature. But children got their voice only
many years after these events; maybe this is why their stories became so original and distinctive
among numerous books about the war.
Eduard Verkin
CLOUD REGIMENT
Cover by Zilasaule Artistic Group
KompasGuide, 2015, 296 pp.
12+
cop ie s! Tags: soviet mythology,
25 000 guerilla war, postmodern
Similar to: The Railway Man
by Eric Lomax
Awards:
• Kniguru Prize (2012)
• V. Krapivin Prize (2012)
• Longlisted for the Ivan Belkin Prize
(2012)
Postmodern book about • P. Bazhov Prize (2013)
the war and its heroes, • Shortlisted for the Leo Tolstoy Prize
about fates, duty and the
courage to live.
(2013)
Cloud Regiment is a modern book about the war and its heroes, about fates, duty and the courage to live. This book
follows the canons of Russian prose for teenagers, but at the same time breaks their limitations. Due to its lack of
excessive heroism, simplicity, understatement and demonstration of war routine, this book can be easily compared
to the best works of fiction of the 20th century.
The characters lived such a dangerous and eventful life, that each day felt like three. They had to grow up, or even
grow old, faster: it can hardly be any other way, when the death keeps following you, waiting for a perfect moment to
take your life away. Long passages through marshes and untrodden paths, ambushes and firefights, brief moments
of joy in the endless nightmare — this is what Cloud Regiment is about. Every ordinary detail hides an attempt,
no matter how feeble, to understand the people, who were ready to sacrifice themselves in the Pskov woodlands.
6
Olga Kolpakova
SAGEBRUSH FIR TREE
Illustrated by Sergey Ukhatch
KompasGuide, 2017, 160 pp.
9+
TAGS: Siberia, true-life, ethnic
The challenging and
dangerous journey of
Russian Germans in
Soviet Union during
the wartime.
Similar to: The Wartime Lies
by Louis Begley
The protagonist, a girl named Mareike, her sisters Mina and Lily, their
mom, aunt Josephine and cousin Theodor are Russian Germans, just
like their friends and neighbors in Rovnopolye. Although before the war
Father told they are “good Germans” and not “Nazis”, they are restricted
to live in their homeplace: what if they switch to the enemy’s side? The
Soviet government sends such “unreliable” people to Siberia — and the novella
describes this journey and the first months in a new home.
A short, but evocative novella and a brief, well-structured historical
reference - this is the formula that works for every compassionate
reader. Besides, Olga Kolpakova has a great experience in writing children’s
encyclopedias — she wrote books like “Natural Science for Children”, “The Underwater
World”, “Ancient China” and others. She is capable to explain both both complex and simple things — and the latter
are the hardest to explain. What is “the Soviet Union”? How come we were attacked by the Germans, but Germans,
«
who lived in Russia, didn’t attack anyone? The appendix provides all the answers.
Excerpt
“We were attacked by a country named Germany. There lived Germans. Lilya couldn’t get it.
We are Germans, too. Our boys sometimes fight the boys from other villages. Ukrainians live
in a khutor across the river. And on the other side there’s a Cossack slobodka. The boys speak
different languages, go to different schools, but sometimes play and fight together. After that
they make peace, go to pioneers’ meetings and sports competitions, march together and sit
around campfires.
Our mother told Lilya that a long, long time ago — even our Grandma can’t remember this —
some Germans moved to Russia and settled in. And a long time ago — this our Grandma re-
members well enough — Russia became the Soviet Union. It is the biggest country in the world
and many nations live here. Most people are Russians, but there are many Germans as well.
«
The most important man in the country is Stalin, and he’s a Georgian.
We are Germans. And we are attacked by Germans, too. Because every nation has people that
are good and bad, generous and greedy, kind and evil. Bad Germans are called Nazis. That’s
what Father told.
7
Stanislav Olefir
WHEN I WAS A KID,
THE WAR WENT ON
Illustrated by Alexey Kapninsky
KompasGuide, 2017, 152 pp.
9+
TAGS: true story,
existentialism, occupation
Big issues like war, cruelty of Nazis,
collectivization and famine are depicted
through personal stories and sketches about
Similar to: Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry astonishing people living next to the child
character.
Stanislav Olefir’s (1938–2015) short story collection is set in a Ukrainian village, occupied by the Germans, and
also covers post-war years. Big issues like war, cruelty of German soldiers, collectivization and famine are depicted
through personal stories and sketches about astonishing people living next to him. Vivid characters seem to come
from Shukshin’s stories, like Fedya, a railroad mechanic, who refuses to work until he gets his borscht.
It’s hardly possible to imagine life in a village without animals, so they become the characters of half of the stories:
friendly dogs, voiceless hens and an amiable piglet Sherstyuk maneuvering through a minefield in search of potatoes
«
turn out to be as interesting as people. Thanks to human characters and likeable animals, this harsh time feels
diverse: no matter how tragic this period was, daily life went on and funny things kept happening.
Excerpt
“I went to school right after the war, but when we celebrated the Vic-
tory Day anniversary for the first time, I was in the third grade. We
all were getting ready for the celebration. Me, Volodya Myagkokhod
and Slava Shushura, whose fathers returned home, and Kolya Kuk-
sa, Tolya Panya, Seryozhka Snachuk and Volodya Pleten, whose fa-
thers died at war. And on the celebration day we were singing songs,
marching and screaming hurrah together. We were happy.
Now I’ve grown old and fail to understand, what is to celebrate af-
ter a war like this. When we were playing ball near the school, when
Father dug a well with tasty water, when Edik and I caught a giant
catfish — that was a real celebration. It had nothing to with the war,
refugees and orphans. And honestly, how can you joyfully celebrate
«
the end of event that killed the person you hold dearest in your life —
your FATHER? No wonder on the Victory Day everyone in our village
was crying.
8
Children and war: the still relevant theme
When KompasGuide editor’s office saw the manuscript of Yuri Nikitinsky’s Vovka Who Rode a Bomb,
it became clear to all of us: our readers must get to know Vovka! The mischievous boy reminds at
first glance his precursors from Soviet books and movies, but later turns out to be an absolutely
modern character.
We have no doubt that Yuri Nikitinsky will become the revelation of 2018. He wrote over twenty
books, but Vovka Who Rode a Bomb is obviously his breakthrough novella.
Vovka and his best friend Vlad never get bored: every day they start a new adventure.
Once, while playing soldiers, Vovka accidentally gave Vlad a black eye and later was
dying of envy: being a wounded soldier is so honorable! Next time the boys organized
a stable supply of canaries to the pet shop — if you take proper care of the birds, they
breed on their own. But then the shop got closed: it was destroyed by a missile, not the
one Vovka rode. And he really rode one, sitting on it and crying this was not a bomb,
just a shell. How come no one could tell the difference?
Future hit!
Yuri Nikitinsky’s novel, although following the educative and entertaining traditions of
Soviet children’s literature, handles other topics as well — first of all, the war. Attentive
Release in the
readers will surely realize, through landscape descriptions and toponyms, that the
story takes place in the eastern part of the present-day Ukraine. But this knowledge
forth quarter
does not alter the perception of this story, it goes beyond any certain place or time of 2018!
period. Never-ending artillery attacks change the lives of the boys, but remain on the
background and do not influence them for a time-being. This is the saving attribute of
the child’s mind, masterfully captured by the author.
We have read a lot about the war, KompasGuide even has its War Childhood series, but in this book this subject is delivered
differently — sharper and, for apparent reasons, devoid of nostalgia. The war is a part of daily routine for the main characters,
but not the most significant one: thinking something up, playing and having fun is way more important to them.
Vovka Who Rode a Bomb won Korneychukovsky Award in 2015 and New Children’s Book contest in 2016. Yuri Nikitinsky
(born 1970) was published in Murzilka, Barvinok, Yeralash and other children’s magazines in Russia and the Ukraine, and
wrote over 20 children’s book throughout his 25-year career. Illustrations by Ksenia Dereka make the story about Vovka
even more humorous and touching.
Yuri Nikitinsky
VOVKA WHO RODE A BOMB
Cover by Xenia Dereka
KompasGuide, 2018
9+
TAGS: wartime, friendship,
wars of the 21st century
The mischievous boy reminds at first glance
his precursors from Soviet books and movies,
but later turns out to be an absolutely modern
character.
Similar to: Charlotte
Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
9
Eugene Rudashevsky: children’s choice,
grown-ups’ enthrallment
In winter 2016-2017, Children Readers Jury
of Leningrad Region Library awarded Eugene
Rudashevsky’s Hello my brother Bzou! with
a sign “Leningrad Region Children’s Choice”.
Hello my brother Bzou! is the first book by the young
author (Eugene Rudashevsky was born in 1987),
which was published by KompasGuide in 2015 and
immediately became a teenage fiction sensation.
It won the 3rd place in the National Kniguru Contest,
which jury also consists of children. In 2017 a new
edition, illustrated by P. Zakharov, was published.
Similar to: Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
HELLO MY BROTHER
BZOU!
Illustrated by Peter Zakharov
KompasGuide, 2015, 192 pp.
14+
TAGS: wartime, coming of
age, exotic place, animals
and people, small nations
An unusual friendship between
Amza, an Abkhazian boy, and
a dolphin; their fates are
surprisingly entwined.
10Similar to: Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell
The trip to Baikal Lake becomes
extremely dangerous for a
teenage boy who must survive
alone in the ice-trap.
THE PATH
OF KUMUTKAN
Illustrated by Peter Zakharov
KompasGuide, 2016, 224 pp.
12+
TAGS: Siberia, coming of age, animals
and people, small nations, survival
Eugene Rudashevsky continued to develop his style, which
is becoming his trademark, in his 2016 novella, The Path of
Kumutkan. Just like Hello my brother Bzou!, it is set in an exotic for
most Russian readers location — this time, on the shores of the
Baikal Lake. Rudashevsky weaves together astonishing in their
uniqueness Buryat beliefs, tales about the golendrs — Siberian
German-Dutch descendants, and urban legends and pop culture
of the 2000s. But again, in the focus of the writer’s attention are
rare animals: Baikal seals, whose fate is linked to the fate of the
main characters.
11Similar to: Never Cry Wolf
by Farley Mowat
14-year-old Dima strives
to undergo a sort of
initiation and prove himself
he is not a child anymore.
Awards:
• White Ravens List by
Munich International Youth
Library (2017)
THE RAVEN • „Commander’s Choice”
at V. Krapivin Prize (2016)
Illustrated by Peter Zakharov
KompasGuide, 2017, 140 pp.
14+
TAGS: Siberia, coming of age, animals and
people, children/adult relationship
Similar to: The Pathfinder,
or The Inland Sea by James Fenimore
Cooper
The novel starts like an
ordinary quest, but soon
turns into a pursuit novel,
c opie s!
31 000 a detective, a story of
pathfinders and traitors
and a parable about
curiosity as driving force.
SOLONGO. THE SECRET OF A LOST EXPEDITION
Cover by Margarita Chechulina
KompasGuide, 2017, 368 pp., 14+
TAGS: Siberia, adventures, lost world, coming of age
12THE EXTREME PICNIC
Cover by Margarita Chechulina Similar to: Junior Woodchucks
Illustrated by Anna Kulikova Guidebook by Walt Disney Studio
Design by Dmitry Dervenev
KompasGuide, 2018
11+
TAGS: survival, non-
fiction, journey,
tourusm,
adventures
In 2018, KompasGuide starts new series by Eugene Rudashevsky called The Extreme
Picnic. It is a collection of short encyclopedias addressed to children and adolescents from 9 to 13 which provides
lifehacks for those who go for a trip — or just want to go, maybe tomorrow, maybe some other time. 30-year-old
Eugene Rudashevsky is an experienced traveler himself, therefore he has a lot to tell about this subject: from setting a
bonfire correctly to avoiding wild animals in the forest or in the mountains.
The Extreme Picnic includes 4 books: Bonfire, Hunger, Thirst, and Shelter. Each of them is divided in three parts: green,
yellow, and red. The green one describes typical situations like what kind of food you should put in your backpack.
The yellow one deals with small difficulties, for examples, the heavy rain which destroyed your camp. And the last
chapters, red ones, concerns the extreme cases like finding yourself lost in the woods without a drop of water.
Eugene Rudashevsky prepared huge amount of examples from all the adventure novels he ever read (probably he’s
read them all!), from his own experience, so every book itself become as overwhelming as a solid novel of Fenimore
Cooper. Funny, wise, inspiring, informative — such adjectives could describe the style of these series.
INSOMIA Similar to: The Catcher in the Rye
by J. D. Salinger
Cover by Margarita Chechulina
KompasGuide, 2018
16+
TAGS: America, students, coming of age,
children/adult relationship, on the road
Max is lost somewhere between the teenage
and the adulthood, he doesn’t want to live the
life his father prepared for him, but also he
cannot find his own path.
Yet another Eugene Rudashevsky book of 2018 is Insomnia novel. Here young writer proves his strength in
a completely new genre: “campus life novel” with an obvious homage to Jack Kerouak (especially On the Road). Max,
19-year-old student from Moscow, moved to Chicago, forced by his father who wants him to become a lawyer. Max
makes amends with people all around him, reluctantly falls in love, writes a diary, skip most of the classes — and
hides something extremely special in a black parcel. He decided something of high importance, but he wouldn’t
reveal what till the very end of the trip to Amish village he and three of his friends has attend.
13Julia Kuznetsova: coming-of-age story master
The First Job trilogy, published in 2016–2017, proves that Julia Kuznetsova perfectly understands
modern teenagers and can advise the reader how to choose a job, deal with other people and stand
for your rights
THE FIRST JOB
Illustrated by Eugeniya Dvoskina
KompasGuide, 2016, 2017, 256–352 pp.
12+
TAGS: teenage job, coming-
of-age, inspiring, first
love, friendship, children/
parents relationship
The three-part story of
copie s!
a 15-year-old girl who find her
5 2 000 very first job to make a dream
come true.
RIGHTS SOLD TO: Similar to: The Evolution
of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Germany
The First Job is literally a book about a first job 15-year-old Masha takes on: she needs to teach Spanish to Dana,
a spoiled and fidgety 6-year-old girl. Masha gets involved into this because she wants to save money for language
courses in Barcelona — and because of this unexpected teaching experience she begins to better understand
herself and people around her. Disobedient Dana forces the young teacher to be interesting and improve herself to
achieve her goals. Masha starts to see other people — the little girl, her ill-mannered babysitter, school teachers and
even her own parents — from the grown-up perspective. This new role can give her a lot.
The second part of Masha Molochnikova’s story is full of summertime lightness. Three weeks of language courses in
the capital of Catalonia promise many things and a new, unique experience. The girl will deal with Spanish classes,
diverse groupmates and teachers that differ from the ones she used to know. A 15-year-old protagonist is ready for
everything: Spanish grammar is checked, a book about Gaudi lies in the backpack, and the head is full of plans and
ideas. But how will a strange city meet her? With the landlady be nice? Will the girl manage to feel grown-up and
independent? At a certain moment the city itself will talk to Masha — and this will be the turning point for her.
The third part begins when Masha gets back to Moscow and her return turns differs greatly from she has expected.
Her mom does not seem to be glad to see her again, and this is the reason: Masha is going to have a younger
brother! Dad has to take care about mother, so he became more nervous and aggressive. The school year speeds
up from the very beginning and every teacher threatens the students with upcoming state exams. Roma, Masha’s
best friend, stopped going to school — something happened to him. 6-year-old Dana must be prepared for the first
grade, and that means Spanish lessons are not enough. And Beatrix classes are not so cool anymore: newcomers
think Masha is too arrogant and manage to spoil even these ninety minutes.
In this series of novels all the situations the characters have to face are typical for 2010-s and the solutions they find are
constructive. Perhaps, Masha Molochnikova tends to a more “masculine” behavior compared to other female characters
of teenage literature. This fact, combined with allergy to stereotypes, makes her a perfect modern female protagonist.
14COMING-OF-A-LITTLE-AGE: CARPENTER’S STORIES
Illustrated by Sergey Gavrilov
KompasGuide, 2018,
6+
TAGS: picture-book, learning, craftsmanship
Grisha wants to be a carpenter! Never mind he’s only six, he will! Making his own wooden toys, although very simple
and imperfect ones, he learns to cooperate with others, to find compromises, to ask for help when he needs it not
ask if he can deal with difficulties by himself. These short stories illustrated by Sergey Gavrilov are actually the small
pieces of advice to those children who long to become older and smarter. Wise, informative, beautifully written,
they are like parables or fairy tales — it is the first Julia Kuznetsova’s experience with the book for little children, and
it’s definitely the successful one.
Wise, informative, beautifully
Similar to: Click, Clack, Moo
written collection of pieces of
by Doreen Cronin advice for children in a form
of funny tales.
15RIGHTS SOLD TO:
Hungary
Similar to: One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
ie s! Funny and touching story of
cop
32 000 Grandma Jane who settles in
a new place called R Home.
R HOME Grandma Jane was a very modest grandmother, and,
most of all, she was afraid of upsetting her son and the
other family members. For example, she didn’t tell them
Illustrated by Olga Gromova that she wasn’t watching soap operas, but, in fact, loved
KompasGuide, 2015, 192 pp. boxing. One day, the father met his former classmate,
8+ who told him that he was the director of a wonderful
place where old men and women can take a break from
TAGS: children/grandparents their labours. After hesitating a bit, the father then sent
relationship, freedom, his mum to the Rest home, or the R Home (he somehow
could not pronounce the whole phrase). Not wanting to
fantasy world upset her son, grandmother Jane agreed, though she
didn’t want to leave because she was not tired of looking
after her beloved people.
FIB TINY BEETLE
Illustrated by Olesya Gonserovskaya
KompasGuide, 2016, 140 pp.
11+
TAGS: illness, sick-lit, children/
parents relationship
Two girls find themselves
somehow happy while
staying in the hospital —
with a little help from fib
Similar to: The Fault in Our Stars tiny beetles.
by John Green
16DADDY, WHERE
ARE YOU?
Cover by Eugeniya Dvoskina
KompasGuide, 2016, 192 pp.
13+
TAGS: prison, coming
of age, children/
parents relationship
The life of teenage girl
changes when her father is
imprisoned, but she finds
Out of all the people on Earth, Liza loves her daddy. But quite
unexpectedly, there comes a verdict: five years of prison! The the way to deal with it.
young girl has so many things to tell her dad: her new friend
called Andrew and his stupid desire to join one bad company Similar to: White Oleander
led by Fox, but most of all — about Andrew’s younger sister, by Janet Fitch
Kiara. This two-year-old baby completely changes Liza’s life.
At school Liza’s nickname is “Dumb”, but after meeting Kiara,
Liza wants to laugh and chat happily, describing the days she
spent with that little child.
Anastassia Maleiko
MY MOM LOVES AN ARTIST
Illustrated by Eugenia Dvoskina Similar to: About a Boy
96 pp. by Nick Hornby
12+
Tags: single-parent family, children/parents
relationship, understanding yourself,
coming-of-age, jealousy, love story
“Today is October 2nd. We are walking past an opera theatre with harps on the roof. It is sunny and windy. Mum is
wearing a checkered coat and a red beret. In her hand she is clutching a paper bag with cookies; the bag makes a
pleasant rustling noise and smells of vanilla. We have just been to a deli where mum spent a long time choosing
something especially delicious. She is carrying this ‘something’ to the artist.
You see, my mother loves an artist. Maybe she loves him even more than me. She doesn’t buy vanilla cookies for me,
that’s for sure. Frankly speaking, I can’t tell you why I don’t like the artist. Actually, he is handsome and jolly. Mum is
always joking and shaking with laughter when she is with him. Maybe I am just jealous – she used to joke around
with me. We used to go to concerts and movies together. On Sundays, we would go to a park with sandwiches and
tea in a thermos, lying on the grass until the sun went down, chatting and telling stories. Now there is this artist…”
Lina will have to come to the opening of Igor’s exhibition. Igor is the artist her mother is in love with, and Lina herself
helped him choose the paintings for the exhibition. Who knows what will happen next?
RIGHTS SOLD TO:
Ukraine Lithuania 17Victoria Lederman: school life’s charm
Why are Victoria Lederman’s books so popular among readers of all ages in Russia? For excellent
plotlines — yes. For likeable characters — definitely. For lots of funny and heart-warming
moments — goes without saying.
But the most important thing is that The May(a) Calendar, Eleven y.o. Only, or Amourette in Fifth Grade,
Classes Cancelled and Vasylkin…To the Blackboard! tell about school in a way that is absolutely true
and precise, but still charming. School routine, as seemed by the characters of the author from
Samara, turns out to be full of adventures and discoveries — there is no place for boredom or waste
of time!
Three schoolmates
stuck in the
c opie s!
103 000 calendar which runs
backwards — only
their friendship and
confidence can help
them.
THE MAY(A) CALENDAR Similar to: The Girl Who Leapt
Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsui
Cover by Olga Gromova
KompasGuide, 2016, 224 pp.
10+
TAGS: time travel, school life, coming-of-age,
friendship unites, overcoming difficulties
It is the teenage novel at its oldfashioned, classical best. There is everything in it: adventures, psychological insights,
eternal questions and deep yearning for true friendship. It is a genuine page-turner. Who would have thought
that three very different schoolchildren would be united by a common problem: one day they simply start going
backwards in time. There’s no tomorrow for them — only yesterday. The three are not heroes; they are normal teens
who don’t even like each other much. Now they will have to put all this aside and play as a team — otherwise they
will become babies again and then disappear completely. Victoria Lederman teaches English and French and loves
traveling. “The Ma(y)a Calendar” is her prize-winning first book.
18RIGHTS SOLD TO:
Lithuania
c opie s!
72 000
ELEVEN Y.O. ONLY, OR AMOURETTE
IN FIFTH GRADE Similar to: The Summer
I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Cover by Olga Gromova
KompasGuide, 2017, 128 pp.
11+
TAGS: school life, love triangle, first love,
friendship, children/parents relationship
Egor and Nikita, the novella’s main characters, are
surprised to see Angelina, a new girl in class. A couple of
Egor and Nikita are surprised
weeks later, both fall in love with her. What will happen to to see Angelina, a new girl in
their friendship that lasts for — just think of it! — eleven
years and who will conquer Angelina’s heart? class. A couple of weeks later,
The situation Lederman’s characters have to deal with both fall in love with her.
is typical for teenagers and pre-teens, so this book will
be of interest not only to eleven-year-old kids. Another
advantage of the novella is its original narrative: the plot progresses through characters’ monologues. The reader
sees the events from Angelina’s point of view, then through Nikita’s and after that — from Egor’s. This constant shift
builds up tension: how will other characters react? What are they thinking of? Who can finally solve this love triangle?
Of course, relationships between the characters are still childish and naïve, but they show the first signs of behavior
patterns that will become visible in teenage or adult relationships years after. The book is rather simple and can
be easily understood by readers who have not experienced their first love yet, but it is so well-written from the
psychological standpoint, that it would appeal to teenagers as well. Besides, behind details of our everyday life —
supermarkets, social networks and computer games, the readers can clearly see elements of classic children’s
literature: boyish heroism, feeling of friendship and personal development.
19The collection of four stories
about the Junior School students
who wanted their classes to be
cancelled.
CLASSES CANCELED Similar to: Like Myself!
by Karen Beaumont
Illustrated by Olga Gromova
KompasGuide, 2017, 104 pp.
7+
TAGS: school life, student/teacher relationship,
funny stories, children psychology
This book is the collection of four stories about the first four stages of study. First-graders and older kids have one
thing in common: they all like when their classes are cancelled. The reasons may vary, though.
For example, Margarita, a first-grader, does not plan to go to school at all: what’s the point, if you have to stay for
three hours without mom and obey an evil teacher? There’re better ways to spend time: walking, shopping, going
to attractions — and her mom knows that, too! Her neighbor, Mr. Pirate, knows that as well, otherwise he wouldn’t
have left his job.
Ivan Tsarev from the second grade has another problem: his parents don’t want to go to school! It would be okay if
they tried to avoid a parent’s meeting or a call from the principal — but they don’t want to go to school on Sunday
to play a family quiz with him. This hurts a lot, because even Golubev, the showoff, will bring his parents...
Third-grader Roma Oreshkin is one of those who scream with joy, when their French class get cancelled. But this time
his scream is short and awkward: his favorite teacher broke her arm. That means she’ll be replaced by someone less
kind and forgiving. Does it mean he has to cram and learn to r-r-roar!?
Going to school is a challenge for Sveta from the fourth grade: she hates Miron Solomatin. She hates him so much
she wants to learn a martial art, no matter, which one. He gave her a nickname — “Plushy” — and she wants to pay
him back! She’ll get her chance, but not in school…
20VASYLKIN…TO THE
BLACKBOARD!
Illustrated by Olga Gromova
KompasGuide, 2017, 112 pp.
7+
TAGS: school life, student/
teacher relationship, funny
stories, children psychology
copie s!
81 000
The collection of educative and
funny stories from the life of
a third-grader, which comprise
Similar to: The Class by Boni Ashburn a composite novel and reveal
their character.
THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Cover by Eugeniya Dvoskina Similar to: Norwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami
KompasGuide, 2016, 256 pp.
16+
TAGS: student life, coming-of-age, first love,
friendship, psychological novel, young adult
On the first page, the 17-year-old student Alexandra declares that she is in love.
Guena from the same class is ideal in all aspects, except one: he has a girlfriend.
They are as close as if joined at the hip, and have been dating for so long! On the
sixth page, Alexandra cuts off her long hair. To spite her mother first, but mostly —
RIGHTS SOLD TO: to impress Guena. No, to IMPRESS. Alexandra has a plan of winning Guena’s heart,
and her haircut is just the beginning.
She revels in her new-found freedom after entering the university. New
acquaintances, studies, crushes, and parties — the book captures all of these
Lithuania distinct events. Every day brings the discovery of herself and others. Life is full of
events that sometimes she can’t even believe in.
The First-year Student is full of twists and doesn’t let you
The girl falls in love with a boy get bored. The series of follies and adventures is exciting,
but it’s very captivating to see how events and new
who seems to ignore her, but she experiments change Alexandra’s character. On the last
has a plan to attract him too. page she says: “I don’t understand anything in this life,”
and these words always prove the opposite.
21Nina Dashevskaya’s musical prose
In her About Music collection, Nina Dashevskaya successfully tells a captivating story in such
a way that afterwards you want to read the text again, paying attention to its smallest details and
savoring its best moments. This is Russian language at its most beautiful, devoid of lengthening,
with thought-provoking subtleness, rhythm and melody. Those who are questioning the talent
of contemporary writers must read Nina Dashevskaya, the Russian nominee for Astrid Lindgren
Memorial Award in 2018.
ABOUT MUSIC
Illustrated by Eugenia Dvoskina
KompasGuide, 2017, 128 pp.
12+
TAGS: teenagers, coming
of age, music, school life,
psychological prose
Teenagers whose lives are
tied with the music try to
find their own life path
with a little help of their
passion.
Similar to: Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
Characters of all the stories feel like our neighbors, friends or ourselves. Their thoughts are as scattered and feelings
as controversial as ours, and making decisions is just as troublesome to them as it is to us. It is hard to believe that
Nina Dashevskaya did not live these lives and just imagined them.
Arkady Kalina loves the violin, but he loves the sea even more. Perhaps, he does not love the violin at all: love
is always complicated, when you are fourteen (Dublin and the Sea). This “it’s complicated” is too
familiar to gloomy Anton, who seems to be ignored by his classmates (alas, including the girls).
But thankfully they can’t hear him singing a folk song at music school — this would be such
a shame! (Ah, It Is Not Yet Evening). Lelya, who got her head shaved, feels strange in a
new neighborhood and does not like people around her. Only a guy nicknamed John
is cool, but he is a skater boy, so he would not care about her and her stupid piano
(Spring Sonata). Oska from the 7th grade finally finds a soulmate in his classmate
Nikita — they have been studying together for six years and finally became friends.
This friendship changed Oska, who used to be a loner, but eventually it suddenly
began to tear apart… (Headphones)
Timka (from Krendelkov short story) cannot accept the death of his violin
teacher and finds Krendelkov, the replacement teacher, despicable — only
to see someday a true master in the feeble young man. Kit (Directionally
Challenged) misses his old neighbors, gets lost in a new neighborhood and
wishes he knew notes, so he could write down the tunes he makes up. And Sonka
(Pankratyev short story) suddenly sees his classmate not as a
boring freak, but as an amazing and inspiring person.
22WILLY
Illustrated by Eugenia Dvoskina
KompasGuide, 2016, 112 pp.
6+
TAGS: bike, fairy tale,
school, city maze, children/
parents relationship
Urban fairy tale about a boy
and his talking bicycle which
helps him to overcome every
trouble.
RIGHTS SOLD TO:
Similar to: When the Robbers
«
Came to Cardamom Town
by Thorbjørn Egner
Ukraine
Readers about Willy novella
“Willy is a perfect urban fairy tale. A story where magic, all of a sudden, pierces
though our ordinary, mundane reality! A talking bike. Magical Pendulum Alley that
can’t be found on any map. City of lost items. Men from road signs coming alive. You
can see a lot of things - if you know how to look.
But it’s all complicated not only for teenagers, but for grown-ups as well. Just im-
agine: Seva’s father is also afraid of something. He is a bricklayer and feels ashamed
of his “trivial” job. He is afraid Seva will never love such a boring dad. So he goes on
«
telling lies that he’s in charge of building a magic castle. And even shows the blue-
prints!
This is what the book is about. It says that life is not that simple. That everyone has
a weak spot, a fear or offence bothering them. And the characters try to defeat and
get rid of them to enjoy a happy living.”
Ekaterina Medvedeva, LiveLib
THE SECOND Similar to: Timm Thaler by James Krüss
Illustrated by Ekaterina Royz
KompasGuide, 2018, 128 pp.
12+
TAGS: teenagers, coming of age, music,
school life, psychological prose
The collection of short stories about teenagers
who learn to deal with their allegedly
secondary roles.
23Tamara Mikheeva’s world: magic is all around
Fairy tales for children and psychological novellas for teenagers captured the hearts of many
readers. So what is it like, being in Tamara Mikheeva’s world?
There’s always place for a miracle
Miracles can be different. In a small forest near the summer camp you can find not only typical woodland critters, but sun squirrels and
sun goats that can heal grazes and other injuries (Asya’s Summer). A suspicious crone waiting for you near your school may turn out to
be a kind and caring old lady (The Gentle Mountains). A small walk will definitely become an adventure that will lead to a breakthrough
scientific discovery (The Dolphins’ Children). And a bike ride through favorite spots will, all of a sudden, turn into a robinsonade, with
years of living on an island, keeping household, hunting and waiting for a ship to accidentally pass by (The Islanders).
It is warm even in winter
All novellas, even if some of them take place during the study, has a “spirit” of vacation — so it’s easier to read them in summer,
and in other seasons they can make you feel nostalgic.
There’s a door to reality
Roska and Maksim, brother and sister from The Dolphins’ Children, come to an island to Serezha, because their parents are dead. They
do not want to talk or even think of this, maybe that’s why they’re ready for any action — while doing or looking for something, they’re
seeking solace against inevitable depression. However, this is not the only solution Tamara Mikheeva offers: her characters, albeit slowly
and unwillingly, reveal their true nature to their friends and overcome their loneliness, thus helping themselves and the others.
ASYA’S SUMMER
Illustrated by Katya Tolstaya
256 pp., 8+
TAGS: summertime, sic-lit, coming-
of-age, magical realism, overcoming
difficulties, friendship
The girl tries to help a sick boy by going deep
into the forest where the fairies and gnomes live.
Similar to: To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
THE DOLPHINS’ CHILDREN
Illustrated by Olga Brezinskaya
208 pp., 10+
TAGS: summertime, children without
adults, loneliness, animals, science fiction,
friendship, first love, adventure novel
Living on an island, three 12-year-olds
discover strange animals, solve a lot of
mysteries and even encounter an ancient race.
Awards: Similar to: Dandelion Wine
by Ray Bradbury
• Kniguru Prize
Longlist
24Little girl gets adopted, but this joyful event causes
conflicts between her foster parents — and although
she’s only six, the girl feels she’s to blame for
someone’s disappointment.
THE GENTLE MOUNTAINS Similar to: The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Illustrated by Maria Pasternak
176 pp., 10+
TAGS: adopted child, children/parents relationship,
divorce, new family, new friends, moving to the new place
THE ISLANDERS
Illustrated by Anna Vronskaya
140 pp., 12+
TAGS: summertime, first love,
survival story, friendship
A summer in the village seems duller than
before, people are not that interesting
anymore, and even in themselves teenage
boy and girl find something dislikable…
But both are ready to rush headlong into
adventures.
Similar to: My Life Next Door
by Frances Huntley Fitzpatrick
25Maria Boteva’s magic: inimitable style
and subtle psychology
Maria Boteva is well-known among devotees of modern children’s and teenage literature. And not only in Russia:
Ice-cream in Wafer Cups collection was included by Munich International Youth Library in its White Ravens list
of distinguished and original children’s books. In 2017, KompasGuide published Maria Boteva’s new novella,
Lighthouse — Look.
Everything about this book is unique: its characters, narrative and the chain of plot-twisting events. The readers will
find themselves on a captivating journey through mists and storms in the open sea. But amidst the darkness and the
splashing water there’s a feeble, flickering light — it seems, the lighthouse requires some serious repairing. But the
characters need it — so it can’t fall to pieces, despite all tragedies and tempests.
There are many characters in the book: ginger Edwin, little Elisa, wolf Jackdaw Wader, father and son Kaporyaks, the
ship Antonius and Sweet N., as well as pirates, prisoners and strangers. The fates of all these people, animals and ships
are amazingly entwined on the lighthouse. The lighthouse, the symbol of the common aim people try to reach by
taking various and sometimes uncanny paths, becomes the focal point of this original and entertaining narration.
Despite its lightness, Maria Boteva’s prose is filled with vast emotional undertones, unpredictability and subtleness.
Her style is truly inimitable: this is a unique language every reader falls in love with at first encounter. The author
keeps a dialogue with the readers, deliberately taking a weaker role of a doubter, causing them to nod approvingly:
“Yes, that’s right, now continue!”
The text is divided into small chapters, each of them taking us from one place to another. Such “montage” makes the
readers curious and keeps them intrigued: why did Edwin start his sail? How can Elsa repair the damaged lighthouse
on her own? How to stop being allergic to pirates? Questions keep following one another, and the ending gives
almost all the answers. This “almost” is the most charming element of the book: thanks to such evasiveness, the
readers will think about the characters again and again and imagine follow-ups to their stories.
YOU LIE Similar to: The Catcher in the Rye
Illustrated by Daria Martynova by J.D. Salinger
168 pp., 12+
TAGS: friendship, teenage riot, animals,
countryside
Suddenly you realize that your friend
has matured, while you are somehow
still a little girl…
ICE-CREAM
IN WAFER CUPS Awards and recognitions:
• Knigooroo Award short-list (2013)
Illustrated by Timophey Jarzhombek • Special Prize of the
160 pp., 12+ V. Krapivin Award (2013)
TAGS: teenage riot, family
relationship, psychological
A collection of three piercing
and surprisingly honest
stories about teenagers’ lives.
Similar to: 13 Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
26LIGHTHOUSE — LOOK!
Illustrated by Sergey Gavrilov
KompasGuide, 2017, 96 pp.
6+
TAGS: funny, fairy
tale, surrealism
Everything about this book is
unique: its characters, narrative
and the chain of plot-twisting
events.
Similar to: Comet in Moominland
«
by Tove Jansson
Lighthouse — Look! (excerpt)
The weeping steersman
Ginger Edwin left Elisa all alone. It was unclear, where and why he went. But someday the ship Antonius
and Sweet N. was anchored not far from the shore. Her steersman came ashore on a boat and showed his
damaged charts and pilot books. They were soaked all over, and sailors could not navigate by them. Edwin
brought him some spare charts he kept in the lighthouse. But the steersman asked Edwin to join the crew as
well. He explained the sailors were either too happy or too upset, so they could spoil the charts again. At the
very beginning of their journey, in their home port, they had thrown the logbook in the sea and nearly bro-
ken the compass. Antonius and Sweet N. had already been in the sea two times longer than expected. Then
the steersman began to weep saying he did not hope to get back home ever again.
“And I ha-ve child-ren”, — the sailor was smearing tears over his cheeks and started to hiccup because of cry-
ing too hard. “My daugh-ter is just li-ke yours”
We must mention that Edwin hated it when someone cried at his presence. But he hated it even more when
grown-up and experienced sailors could not stop weeping in front of his daughter. And wiped their tears with
a sleeve. He brought as much kerosene, candles, dried fruit and water to the lighthouse as he could. And on
the following day he left on Antonius and Sweet N. The steersman solemnly swore their journey would be
over soon, and in a month Edwin would return home on any passing ship.
The magic something
All her life Elisa wanted something…It was hard to say what, exactly. Something magical, probably. Be-
cause why must everything be so ordinary? The pines were ordinary and the lighthouse was ordinary, just
like everyone else’s. The sea was normal, too: sometimes still and sometimes stormy. Wolf Jackdaw Wader
seemed a little strange, but who could tell he was not ordinary as well? Elisa never saw any other wolves, so
for now he was nothing more than a normal one.
Sometimes Edwin and Elisa were visited by sailors. When they wanted to have a rest and walk on the ground,
they put their ship to anchor and rowed their boats to the shore. Father always asked them to keep quiet,
because they were guests on the land, but the sailors only laughed in response. And kept saying something
strange:
“Bitte, bitte! Zusammen trinken! Bitte, Edwin!”
When Elisa was very small, she thought those words were magical. Because from time to time, when the
sailors said that, Edwin stood up and went with them to the ship. Elisa wanted to say these words right. She
repeated “bitte, bitte” many times. But when she became older she realized those words were foreign, but
not magical at all.
Once Edwin came back from the ship feeling very happy and started to walk around the lighthouse mutter-
«
ing: “Parmesan, parmesan”.
He spent half the night muttering about “parmesan” And even went on in his sleep. Elisa decided parmesan
was something magical. In the morning she asked father what “parmesan” was, but he smiled happily and
said nothing.
“So, it’s something magical, indeed. I’m going to find one someday”, Elisa thought.
27Anastasia Strokina:
Northern parables for everyone
“Never scorn your children for dreaming. They’re searching for their own island” — this is how
Anastasia Strokina sums up the storyline of The Whale Goes North: a funny animal mamoru is
looking for the island he is destined to reach, and he must make no mistake.
The Whale Goes North is a philosophical parable, comprehensible for children of 7-8 and entertaining
for grown-ups. Like every good children’s book of the 21st century, it blends a fairy tale plot with
a “morale” and educational elements. In Anastasia Strokina’s case these elements are stories about
life on Bering Island, the Aleuts and their mythology. Vivid, metaphorical and impeccably stylish
illustrations by Irina Petelina make this release the collector’s edition.
“Most of all I want this tiny book to make little readers think about friendship and loneliness, love and forgiveness,
tolerance, avarice and betrayal. And trust me, my dear, little, kind, good-hearted ones: dreaming is fine. Dream on,
while it lasts!”, encourages Anastasia.
Her new fairy tale, The Bead of the Pocket Dwarf, published in 2017, continues these Northern motives: Anastasia
Strokina is charmed with the North, and this time, the magic world she created becomes alive on the streets of Saint-
Petersburg, in Finland, on the rocky shores of Iceland and Greenland and, most importantly, in the hearts of readers
of all ages. The Bead of the Pocket Dwarf is full of adventures and is always in motion, but first of all, it is the story
of discovering your true self. Illustrations made by Oleg Braude reflect both the adventurousness of the book and its
inimitable atmosphere: cold but magical, with a well-earned happy ending.
The Bead of the Pocket Dwarf is an Andersen-like story: a girl Vera rushes headlong into the world of adventures to
save her little sister Varya. Many dangers and surprises await her — but she won’t face them alone: her best friends,
«
dog Lille and a bird nicknamed Bird, will help and support her. And there’s something else: the magic medicine that
can save Varya, belongs to…a storyteller named Topelius. It’s him Vera must find — meeting the ghost couple and
lots of other amazing creatures on her way.
Excerpt from an interview
Anastasia Strokina, Russian author of “Northern” fairy tales:
— The preface to The Whale Goes North claims: “the author master-
fully recreates and reimagines the legends of the Aleuts, who have
no epos or myths. How did you manage to recreate something that
never existed in the first place?
— I guess, you’re right: when you recreate something, you recon-
struct something that was lost or destroyed. But I had to start
from scratch. The Aleuts are a minor nation. About 600 people
live on Bering Island, and the number of Aleuts among them is
small. These Aleuts are called the Medny Aleuts. I got interested
in these people, studied their language for a while and found out
they have no epos, no body of written fairy tales, legends or beliefs.
Every nation seems to have a myth about the origin of the world,
but I couldn’t find any in the Aleut culture.
In fact, an Aleut support program is promoted in Alaska. They
study their language actively. They have probably found and even
published their legends. The situation is different in Russia, and I’m
afraid, not so many people even know about the Aleuts. They’re on
the verge of losing their language. Their culture is not unique, they
have been fishermen for centuries, but they’re a minority. And it’s
a shame we see their traditions fading away, while Americans, our
neighbors across the Bering Strait, are protecting them.
— How did you find Bering Island — the inspiration for the island the
green mamoru is looking for?
«
— I’m interested in geography and cultures of the world, from Afri-
cans to Northern nations. And once, fortunately, we and the Aleuts
found each other. I had several variants of a story about this island,
I wanted to share the knowledge few people have. I had several
sketches, which eventually resulted in these fairy tales.
28You can also read
