Best illustrated books all over the world
Original title: Мастер и Маргарита Kalinovsky’s Master and Margarita feels like a visual echo of Bulgakov’s novel — complex, polyphonic, and impossible to pin down. He didn’t try to create one “key” for the whole book; instead, he approached each layer — Jerusalem, Moscow, the love story, the demonic carnival […]
Little Alma stands in front of a mirror holding a cat — but in the reflection, she sees only the cat, hanging in midair. In her world, reality and imagination constantly intertwine. Spending the summer with her grandmother, near a cemetery, Alma increasingly reflects on life and death, loss and […]
Original title: Путешествия Гулливера This edition of Gulliver’s Travels features illustrations by Gennady Kalinovsky, who brings Swift’s story to life with careful attention to both thought and feeling. The Lilliputians are small but full of character—each one active, clever, and distinct. Gulliver’s presence makes their tiny world feel both real […]
Some books do not answer reader’s questions – instead, they ask them a flow of endless questions, as if you step into a corridor with many doors leading to the unknown. The Book of Questions, the last great work of Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, was written just […]
Original title: Ведьмы и все прочие Fairy tales by Annie Schmidt, the most famous children’s writer of the Netherlands, winner of the Andersen Gold Medal and many other literary awards. In the book “Witches and All the Others” she reworks famous fairy tale plots in an original way.
Original title: Мэри Поппинс In 1968 the Soviet Union published Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Gennady V. Kalinovsky. His black-and-white drawings immediately stood out and later editions also included a selection of color plates. The book quickly became one of the most beloved editions of Travers’s […]
Caps for Sale is a timeless classic beloved by millions…one of the most popular picture books ever published! This picture book is an excellent choice to share at home or in the classroom, as children love chanting along with the naughty monkeys. Children will delight in following the peddler’s efforts […]
To Daniel the garden shed stands between the familar world of the garden and Grandfather, and a derelict railway yard where nothing changes until one day when a fire brings new possibilities.
Sometimes books pull you into their magical world with incredible force. You give in and fall, forgetting everything else… Fall further and further, not feeling the bottom, like Alice into the rabbit hole. “Sentiers” is exactly one of those books. The main character, together with the reader, goes on a […]
Sometimes it’s so exciting to spy on your neighbors, looking out the window! In other people’s apartments, incredible things often happen. In Finestre, the main character loves to watch the residents of other apartments. Each has its own story, which, through her rich imagination, turns into a mini-movie: some are […]
Original title: Пико — хрустальное горлышко Piko — The Crystal Throat by Nikolai Kosmin is a fairy tale about a small thrush named Piko, born in the kingdom of Vrunglupia — a land where lies, flattery, envy, and spite are part of daily life. Piko is different: he speaks the […]
Original title: Послушай-ка, слон One day, instead of taking the vitamins his mother so thoughtfully gave him, Pinya secretly feeds them to Dominic, a white porcelain elephant he found in the attic. After a while, Dominic suddenly discovers that his bookshelf has become a bit cramped. Thus, Pinya gains a […]
Art is like plasticine — in human hands, it takes whatever form they choose. It is a powerful tool, that is capable of changing people’s opinions, becoming both a means of protest and a call to action. In “Art is a Voice”, Kripa shows that art can not only tell […]
Original title: Огниво Andersen’s tale of the soldier, the witch, and the magical tinderbox is one of his earliest works, first published in 1835. Behind its simple plot of greed, chance, and power lies a story about desire and its consequences, about how quickly fortune can turn. Viktor Chizhikov’s illustrations […]
Original title: Загадки The first riddles by Korney Chukovsky appeared in 1928 in the children’s magazine Yozh. For decades, the poet returned to this playful form, weaving rhythm, humor, and hidden meaning into short verses. In this edition, the riddles unfold with the illustrations of Viktor Chizhikov. His images add […]
You? by Vladimir Radunsky tells a quiet, simple story of connection between a girl and a small dog, separated by a hedge. Both are alone in their own worlds: she watches the dogs that pass by, he watches the people who walk past. Their curiosity finally brings them together, and […]
Thomas Handforth was not Chinese, but that did not stop him from publishing one of the most iconic children’s books of the time in 1939, dedicated to the peculiarities of Chinese culture and tradition. A successful American engraver and artist, Handforth traveled a lot, having traveled almost half the world. […]
The neighbor’s house has been empty for a long time. Looking at it from her window, Stella sighs. She has already stopped hoping for a neighbor her age, when suddenly a miracle happens: Moon itself descends from the sky, and moves in next door! A friendship quickly blossoms between them […]
Original title: Доктор Айболит A hundred years ago, in 1920, Hugh Lofting’s The Story of Doctor Dolittle was published. Just a few years later, in 1923–1924, Korney Chukovsky adapted it into Russian and soon created his own verse tales about Doctor Aybolit. In 1936, the fairy tale Doctor Aybolit was […]
Original title: Вниз по волшебной реке This fairy tale introduces readers to Mitya, a boy who spends his summer in the countryside and unexpectedly crosses into the world of Russian folklore. Alongside characters such as Baba Yaga, Vasiliisa the Wise, the Gray Wolf, and the Tsar, he faces Koshchei the […]