In search of children's literature in Russia and the Soviet Union: a critical note to Ben Hellman's volume

The work of Ben Hellman – author of numerous books and essays on the history of Russian literature – is the first systematic study in English of the history of literature for children and young people in Russia, a kind of complete manual accessible not only for Western specialists of the discipline but also for the general public. The Author presents the different phases of the development of children’s literature through the centuries up to the major change introduced by the October Revolution, when children’s literature took on a new educational role, to create a «new man». This major change was to be followed by 70 years of censorship and control over the production of children’s books; the «new beginning» of children’s literature took place after 1990.