Dzhanik i Kiriusha. [Dhzanik and Kiryusha].

Vividly illustrated Soviet propaganda aiming to unite the different nations of the USSR. In excellent condition.


Nadezhda Sher's story is about two little boys, Kiryusha who lives on Tverskoy Boulevard in Moscow and Dzhannik who lived in the Caucasus. Kiryusha's mother decides they should go and visit Dzhanik and his family and so they set off on a long train journey, taking three whole days and nights to cross the vast Soviet Union. When they arrive, Kiryusha is taken aback by the difference in culture. In this southerly land, they speak a different language, have no snow and adorn their homes with cushions. The two boys begin fighting over their May Day red flag, each believing it to be their own until the mothers explain that everyone has the same flag. Now the children are united by waving the red flag of communism they go out to celebrate and sing the street, with Dzhanik declaring that Kiryusha is his 'brother from Moscow'.

There are no examples of the first edition in either the Russian National Library or any Western institution.