Figure 1.-- Genrich Valk was a popular Soviet illustrator. His name suggests his family was of German origins. We note some of his illustrations from the 'The Luting' which ws children's book by Nikolay Nosov published in 1968. The book and illustrations seem to have a contemporary setting. One of the boys who are the main characters wears short pants and long stockings. This was still fairly common in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. The time the book was published was about the time that tights began to replace long stockings for children in the Soviet Union. This took place about a decade after long stockings disappeared in Western Europe.

Gengich Valk was a popular Soviet illustrator. His name suggests he was of German origins. Генрих, reads like Henry (English) or Henrych (German). Actually he was Estonian. German until World War II was widely used in the Baltic countries. We note some of his illustrations from the The luting which looks to be a children's book. It was written by Nikolay Nosov and published in 1968. The book and illustrations seem to have a contemporary setting. One of the boys who seem to be the main characters wears short pants and long stockings. This was still fairly common in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. We see this again in About a Mimosa. The time some of the books were published was published was about the time that tights began to replace long stockings foir children in the Soviet Union. This took place about a decade after long stockings disappeared in Western Europe. There was no indication of his Estonian nationalist leanings. If so he would not have been allowed to publish. While a popular Soviet illustrator, as soon as it became possible, Valk became involved in politics and championed the cause of Estonian independence. It was Valk who named the quest for independence the "Singing Revolution" (laulev revolutsioon). He also created the movement's slogan,"One day, no matter what, we will win!" During his Soviet literary career he was known as Gengich Valk, as Estonian moved toward independence he became known as Heinz Valk.

Genrich Valk / Heinz Valk (1936- )

Genrich (Heinrich in German) Valk was a popular Soviet illustrator. His name suggests his family was was of German origins. Genrich read like Henry (English) or Heinrich / Hinz (German ). He has a very destinctive style. We note some of his illustrations from the The Luting which is a children's book. (Luting I believe means clay caulking.) It was written by Nikolay Nosov and published in 1968. The book and illustrations seem to have a contemporary setting. One of the boys who seem to be the main characters wears short pants and long stockings. This was still fairly common in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. The time the book was published was about the time that tights began to replace long stockings fir children in the Soviet Union. This took place about a decade after long stockings disappeared in Western Europe. A reader tells us that there was also a Heinrich (Genrich in Russian) Valk (1936- ) born in Estonia, a political anti-Russian caricaturist. There was no indication of his Estonian nationalist leanings. If so he would not have been allowed to publish. While a popular Soviet illustrator, as soon as it became possible, Valk became involved in politics and championed the cause of Estonian independence. It was Valk who named the quest for independence the "Singing Revolution" (laulev revolutsioon). He also created the movement's slogan,"One day, no matter what, we will win!" During his Soviet literary career he was known as Gengich Valk, as Estonian moved toward independence he became known as Heinz Valk.

Nikolay Nosov (1908- )

Nikolay Nosov was a popular Soviet children's author. He is known for his humorous short stories, a school novel, and a popular trilogy of fairy tale novels about the adventures of a boy named Neznaika and his friends. A Russian reader tells us, "Nosov is one of the brightest children writers in USSR." Nosov was born in Kiev (1908). His parents were actors. He attended the Kiev Institute of Art (1927-29). He graduated from Directors’ Faculty of Moscow Institute of Cinematography (1932). He then began working as a movie director and animation artist. He published his first book (1938). He worked as a producer of animated and educational films (1932-51). One of his films for the Red Army during Wirld War II won him the Order of the Red Star (1943). Some of his best known stories are: Zatejniki; Alive Hat, Cucumbers, Miraculous Trousers, and Dreamers. These stories were mostly published in the children's magazine Murzilka. He published a collection of these stories: Rat-tat-tat (1945). A Russian source says, "Nosov introduced a new hero, naïve and sensible, naughty and curious fidget obsessed by craving for activities and always getting into unusual, often comic situations — into children's literature." Actually this sounds a good bit like Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. Nosov's most popular works are probanly his stories about teenagers: Merry Family (1949), The Kolya Sinitsyn's Diary (1950), and Vitya Maleev at School and at Home (1951). He received the State Prize of the USSR (1952). The movie version, 'Two Friends' (Dva druga) was filmed (1955). Russian children still enjoy his noted trilogy about Dunno (Neznaika) The Adventures of Neznaika and His Friends (1953-54), Neznaika in Sun City (1958), and Neznaika on the Moon (1964-65). Several of fairt-tale vhis stories were made as animations. Other works include My Friend Igor (1971-72), various theatrical plays and numerous short stories. He was also active in Soviet cineamotography. He helped create the story lines for 'The Adventures of Tolya Klyukvin' (Priklyucheniya Toli Klyukvina) (1964) and 'Fantasizing' (Fantazyory) (1965).

The Luting (1968)

The Luting plot is typical for Nosov and his specialty of develop comical situations, mainly with boys. In this story two boys pull a piece of luting (clay caulking) from a window. First they try to make some sculptures of it, then just put it in a pocket. Later the boys go ta movie. This is the scene we see here (figure 1). During the movie one of boys accidentally begins to eat the luting instead of a piece of cake which he also put in his pocket. He gets as it tastes terrible and throws the luting out. After that both boys begin to look for the luting under all chairs. When they finish their searches, the film ends. Both boys say "What a foolish movie! I don't remember what it was about!"

About a Mimosa

This is a very special case. Here we have one and the same children book, About a Mimosa by Sergey Mihalkov. It is about a boy who is so delicate that is compared with a tropical plant with very delicate flowers. This book was published in 1954 nd then rpublished in 1965, 1972, and 1980 year. All four books were illustrated by the same illustrator -- Genrich Valk. I believe that the text was the same in each annual edition. For some reason Valk was asked to draw different illustrators, perhaps to give it a contemprary look. Here we have the autumn oillustration for the 4 years. Valk's drawings are interesting to compare. The idea of the picture here is that in the autumn thes boy sits at home warmly clothed and doesn't go outside and play at all. The illustrations despite the passage of time are remarakably similar. Perhaps this reflects the slower pace of change in fashion is a planned economy and the absence of advertising and a aedia not focused on promotingsales. The cover usesbasically the same moif of a boy dressed in heavy coats if he goes out side. There is, however, some varitionin Mimosa's autumn outfits, at least indoors. We nore that Mimosa first appears in long pants in 1972 which reflects fashion trends and the disapparance of long stckings. But he again appears in short pants in 1980, presumably now wearing tights.

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Created: 6:45 PM 4/24/2011
Last updated: 3:31 PM 10/10/2015