THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATIVE PATH OF THE CHILDREN’S WRITER AND POET SASHA CHERNY

Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of the satirist poet’s journey into children’s literature. The beginning of the formation of the children’s poet and writer Sasha Cherny dates back to the pre-immigrant period of his work. The first publications of his works for children appeared in various newspapers and magazines: “Kiev Thought”, “Sovremennik”, “Russian wealth”, “For children”. Common interests and views on the content and design of children’s books contributed to his rapprochement in the 1910s with Korney Chukovsky and Maxim Gorky, together with whom he participated in the creation of new children’s literature, which was being formed at that time. Sasha Cherny was invited by Korney Chukovsky to the almanacs “The Firebird” (1911) and “The Christmas Tree” (1918); participated in the collection “Verbochki” (1913). The compiler of the “Blue Book” (1912) was Sasha Cherny himself, in the publication of which he involved Maxim Gorky and Kasimir Mill. In these collections, the then-novice children’s author Sasha Cherny holds first place for the number of published works. Reviving the history of the development of children’s literature of the pre-revolutionary period, one should not forget about the role and significance of the poet excluded from it by emigration. Sasha Cherny’s participation in the organization of new communities of children’s poets and writers, even if these were created only for collective publishing projects like collections and almanacs, is an important touch in the history of the formation of the community of writers working for the young reader in the first decades of the twentieth century. For Sasha Cherny himself this experience was a part of his path to children’s literature, and the publication of his collected works marked the fact that he saw himself as an independent contributor to children’s literature, which was already quite evident in the time of emigration. Along with the recognized classics of children ’s literature of the twentieth century. Sasha Cherny stands at its origins.

Keywords: children’s literature, Sasha Cherny, Korney Chukovsky, Maxim Gorky, Vadim Falileev, almanach, alphabet, illustration