Carroll, Lewis [Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland]. Prikliucheniia Alisy v Strane Chudes.

Retold by Boris Zakhoder.
Illustrations by Gennady Kalinovskii.

Moskva, ‘Detskaia literatura’, 1974.
8vo, 156, [4] pp., ill.

In original hardcover. Illustrated endpapers.
Near very good condition, lower corners lightly bumped and rubbed.

First edition with these illustrations. First book edition of this translation.

This adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland' was done by Boris Zakhoder (1918–2000), a prominent poet, translator, and children’s writer. Zakhoder’s version was first published in the magazine 'Pioneer' in 1971–1972 (# 12, 1-3) and was accompanied by an introduction where he expressed his desire to rename the book something more creative than 'Alice in Wonderland'. He suggested names such as Aliska in Imagination, Aliska in Surprisedland, Aliska in Chepukhania or Aliska in Raschudesiya, but ultimately succumbed to the established literary tradition. Zakhoder also confessed that 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland' was his favorite book, which he had re-read in the original language for 25 years before translating it into Russian. He tried to convey the same emotions and imaginative spirit of the English version to Russian children in his translation. Zakhoder’s adaptation was a hit and enjoyed more popularity than other Soviet children’s books of the same period. This was partly because he made Carroll’s characters more expressive than in the original version and added new content to help Russian children understand the story better.
The book is illustrated by Gennagy Kalinovskii (1929–2006), one of the most famous Soviet book artists. Kalinovskii studied at the Surikov State Art Institute and later worked as an illustrator for magazines. 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland' was his first major success, and he went on to create iconic illustrations for other classic books such as 'Mary Poppins', 'Winnie-the-Pooh' (in collaboration with B. Diodorov), and J.R.R. Tolkien’s 'The Fellowship of the Ring'.
The second edition of the book, which included Kalinovskii’s illustrations, was featured in the exhibition 'Alice. 150 years and counting... The Legacy of Lewis Carroll: Selections from the Collection of August and Clare Imholtz'. The exhibition was held from October 2015 to July 2016 in the Maryland Room Exhibit Gallery at the University of Maryland College Park.

OCLC locates two copies of this edition: in the University of Illinois and the Princeton University Library.