What I Saw: The Railroad

Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov 1882–1938 - a famous children's writer, educator, traveler, and researcher. He was born in Veliky Novgorod to a teacher of mathematics and a pianist. The future writer spent his childhood in Odessa and during his gymnasium years... befriended K.I. Chukovsky. After graduating from the Imperial Novorossiysk University in 1906, B.S. Zhitkov went on his first voyage. During his years of maritime service, he had the fortune to participate in a round-the-world journey. In 1923, B.S. Zhitkov moved to Petrograd. He often visited his schoolmate Korney Chukovsky. The writer's children were thrilled by stories of the sea and travels, and Korney Ivanovich suggested that Zhitkov put these stories on paper. Thus, with Chukovsky's gentle encouragement, Zhitkov's writing career began. In 1924, his first book, The Evil Sea, was published. The writing work increasingly captivated B.S. Zhitkov; he wrote many adventure stories and novellas including Sea Stories, Tales of Technology, and What I Saw. The cycle of children's stories What I Saw was referred to by the author himself as a production encyclopedia for four-year-old citizens. B.S. Zhitkov was also a man of encyclopedic knowledge; his friends jokingly called him a living reference book, and thanks to his vivid and expressive descriptions he managed to create a true collection of answers to various "why" questions. The prototype of the main character in What I Saw - the inquisitive Alyosha Pochemuchka - was Zhitkov's neighbor in the communal apartment, the little Alyosha Nekrasov, who constantly asked adults various questions. Thanks to Alyosha's curiosity, readers learn how a railroad and a subway are structured, what a semaphore is for, who lives in the zoo, what the animals' behaviors are like, who takes care of the beasts, and much more.