Poznanskaya, M. [About Belka and Strelka and Their Adventure]. Pro Belku i Strelku i Ikh Puteshestvie.

Translation from Ukrainian by Yu. Korinets.
Illustrations by E. Zakharov.

Moskva, Izdatel’stvo “Detskaya literatura”, 1965. 
8vo, 15, [1] pp., ill.

In original illustrated wrappers.
In good condition, worn to cover, lightly water-stained to front cover, carefully repaired, small owner’s marks to some pages.

First and only edition. Rare.

This poem, written by Ukrainian female poet Maria Poznanskaya (1917-1995), is dedicated to the first living creatures to venture into orbit and return safely: a pair of dogs named Belka (Whitey) and Strelka (Little Arrow). On August 19, 1960, they spent a day in space aboard Sputnik 5, and the lessons learned from this journey were crucial in paving the way for the first human spaceflight in 1961.
Strelka's puppy, Pushinka (Fluffy), was presented to President John F. Kennedy by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.
This poem has been translated by Yuriy Korinets (1923-1989), an artist, poet, translator, and children's writer.  Korinets' father was a diplomat who was executed in 1938, and his mother, a German-born translator, was also arrested and died in prison. Although Korinets studied at the Art School in Tashkent, he later decided to work as a writer.
The book containing the poem was illustrated by graphic artist Evgeniy Zakharov (1928-1973).

OCLC locates one copy of this edition only: in the Stanford University Library.