Best illustrated books all over the world
These illustrations are among Kalinovsky’s most distinctive works. They earned him two major international awards — a silver medal at the Leipzig Book Fair and the Golden Apple at the 1977 Biennial of Illustration Bratislava. Kalinovsky approached the American folktales of Joel Chandler Harris not as light children’s stories but […]
Almost every book illustrated by Mikhail Maiofis becomes a notable event in the world of book graphics, reflecting the artist’s imagination, inventiveness, and genuine talent. His style is immediately recognizable, with a distinctive visual signature that allows readers to say at once, “This is Maiofis!” Maiofis seems to have a […]
In Nabokov’s free translation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the familiar story turns into something sharper and more enigmatic. Gennadiev’s illustrations follow this shift completely. His Wonderland is not whimsical but introspective — a place where dreams blur into unease. The figures seem caught between childlike play and adult disquiet. […]
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 classic in Russia. Kalinovsky’s […]
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 […]
Original title: Zagadki 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 […]
Original title: Dobryy den’ Good Day is a collection of poems and tales by Lev Kuzmin. His writing combines simplicity and warmth, with themes that speak directly to children. Everyday situations turn into playful verses and short stories, full of humor and rhythm. The book is illustrated by Viktor Chizhikov. […]
Original title: Dvadtsat’ let pod krovat’yu Twenty Years Under the Bed by Viktor Dragunsky is a humorous short story from the Deniska’s Stories cycle. The children decide to play hide-and-seek in a communal apartment. Denis hides under a neighbor’s bed, but the game ends before anyone remembers about him. Left […]
Original title: Tsvetnyye steklyshki Galina Demykina looks at the world through the colored glasses of imagination, turning familiar, everyday things and events into incredible miracles and revelations. The writer knows the secret inner life of children, about whom she writes with captivating warmth and love. She is helped in this […]
Original title: Волшебник Изумрудного города “The Wizard of the Emerald City” is a fairy tale story by Alexander Melentyevich Volkov, written in 1939 based on the fairy tale by the American writer Lyman Frank Baum “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” with some changes. The illustrator of the original edition of […]
Original title: Приключения Алисы в Стране Чудес “Carroll’s book, in my opinion, is not a fairy tale. A fairy tale is devoid of paradox; it has a firm ethical foundation, and its plot is of the wandering kind. First, Alice is not a folk tale but rather a folkloric stylization. […]
Original title: Chudesnaya zhemchuzhina Collection of Vietnamese fairy tales