Moshkovskaya, E. [Two Tales: Jokes]. Dve Skazki: Shutki.

Illustrations by Yu. Bogorodskiy.

Moskva, Izdatel'stvo Detskiy mir, 1963. 
8vo, [24] pp.incl.wr., ill.

In original illustrated wrappers.
Near very good condition, light wear to spine and wrapper edges, small tears to cover, small owner mark to front cover.

Rare. First and only edition. One of 60 000 copies printed.

The book contains two verses: 'Why Do Male Lions Have Big Manes' and 'How Frogs Learned to Croak'. The author, Emma Moshkovskaya (1926-1981), was a renowned children's writer and poet. She was widely recognized for her lyrics and work as a screenwriter for cartoons.
Yury Bogorodskiy (1933-1970), the illustrator, received his education at the Moscow Film School under Yury Pimenov. He was involved in designing the Horse Breeding pavilion at VDNKh and also worked as a children's illustrator. Tragically, he passed away at the age of 36 in an accident involving a bus.
The book belonged to the children's collection of Inna Shmeleva (1929-2020), an artist who studied under Ely Bielutin, the founder of The New Reality artistic academy. In 1962, Shmeleva participated in the 30th anniversary exhibition of the Moscow Union of Artists at the Central Exhibition Hall (Manège), which received severe criticism from Nikita Khrushchev. This event marked the end of the period known as the Khrushchev Thaw.

OCLC locates one copy of this edition in the US: in the University of Notre Dame Library (US). One more copy locates in the National Library of Scotland.