Pioneer Without a Tie

What is this book about? First and foremost — about the phenomenon of children's magazines. About its significance for the upbringing of an adult reader, about its role in the creation of the cultural landscape of the era.

This phenomenon can... be broken down into its components: illustrations (the best artists collaborated with "Pioneer"), poetry and prose (which became classics of children's literature), editorial appeals to the reader and correspondence with them, popular science and educational texts, games and puzzles, that is, everything that develops the mind and soul.
But there is also such an important factor as the personality of the editor. Each editor-in-chief is a personality, a character, a fate. How they influenced the editorial team, the circle of authors, what tasks and goals they set, little is known to researchers of children's literature. This was discussed "in their circle", this was evidenced by individual pages of memoirs. But we have attempted for the first time to assemble a holistic picture.

"Pioneer" embodied all the characteristics of that era: it was to be the face and banner of Soviet pedagogy and at the same time — a friend and teacher, an attentive interlocutor and a source of the most interesting texts, stories, poems, and tales. This was practically an impossible task, but the editorial team coped with it differently at various times.
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"Pioneer" was often called "The New World" for children. And indeed, it succeeded in becoming the main children's literary magazine in the country. It managed to become a friend to millions of children, it managed to tell them about many amazing things — serious, important, funny. It managed to enter history.



A book of memoirs about the magazine "Pioneer", from 1924 to 2017. They are shared by the magazine's editors, journalists, writers, poets, and artists — all who worked on the magazine over the years. These are stories from talented people about their work, colleagues, achievements and mistakes, about the secrets of craftsmanship and about the times in general. This book is a confession of love for the wonderful children's magazine, which was a friend, advisor, and mentor to several generations of kids.
The book "Pioneer Without a Tie" will be interesting to history lovers, those studying pedagogy, children's literature and journalism, and everyone who read "Pioneer" in their childhood.