Mouse Pik and Other Tales

Today, Vitaly Bianki is known as a writer, but initially, he was a hunter and nature expert—a naturalist. It can be said that his connection with nature was inherited from his father, a zoologist. The future writer accompanied his father to the forest, where he would call "each little animal, each blade of grass" by its "full name." This book collects five such stories under one cover: "Forest Dwellings" (1923), "The Crazy Bird" and "Fomka the Bandit" (1924), "Forest Explorers" (1927), "Mouse Pik" (1928). These stories, which are sometimes referred to as fairy tales, have been reissued multiple times and are well-known to readers. The illustrations by Alexander Formozov are not easy to find today, although they were made for the very first editions of these stories in the 1920s—1930s. Alexander Formozov is a Doctor of Biological Sciences, a professor, and of course, an artist. In general, he is less known to readers than Bianki, yet he is no less significant and remarkable a figure. Formozov depicted animals as closely as possible to nature, as if for articles in a zoological encyclopedia. Only the articles were not dull, because the mood and situations as a whole are visible in each drawing, as well as each character individually. IN SHORT: - A classic of children's literature about nature. - With these illustrations, the book is rarely reissued. - The cover of the book by Vitaly Bianki with illustrations by Alexander Formozov, published in 1928, is presented. About the authors: Vitaly Bianki (1894—1959). A classic of children's literature about nature, author of more than three hundred stories, fairy tales, novellas, and articles, with 120 books printed in a total circulation of 40 million copies. Bianki's books reveal the world of nature and teach how to penetrate its secrets. Alexander Formozov (1899—1973). Zoologist, biologist, animal artist. Professor, Doctor of Biological Sciences. Author and illustrator of children's books. Interested in the world of nature since childhood and often accompanied his father on hunts. From the age of 11, he kept nature observation diaries, accompanying entries with drawings.