[Young comrades] Yuniye tovarishchi: children’s magazine. №7.

[Young comrades] Yuniye tovarishchi: children’s magazine. №7.

Moscow: 1922. 4to (300x215mm), 32 pages, illustrated.

In original illustrated wrappers: stained, yellowed, corners worn. Foxed, creased.. 7000 copies printed.

The establishment of the Pioneer movement in 1922 had an acute influence on the entire landscape of children’s literature and periodicals. It made clear to the publishers and educators which values and virtues were to be cultivated in young minds, and what topics were not just appropriate, but necessary to discuss.

Young comrades was one of the first Soviet children’s magazines of the Pioneer era, an early attempt of combining social and political education of the youth in an approachable, entertaining medium. It had distinct sections, mirroring those of “adult” journals: Major Events, Science and Technology News, Literature Reviews, and the rest of the number would be filled with pertinent children’s stories, poems, and charades.

№7 features:

1. O. Erdberg. Little White Slaves. (A story of child workers being abused by the factory owners before being saved by the Komsomol members.)

2. H. G. Wells. The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth. Chapter 2.

3. A. Felice. Amidst the Icy Wasteland. (A dramatic retelling of the R. F. Scott Terra Nova Expedition.)

4. A. Veseliy. Liu-Sin-Hai. (A story of a young Chinese boy Liu living with an abusive caretaker, who makes him and the other children panhandle for her. After a short stay in the local orphanage he realises how good life can be and sets to free the other children and bring them to the orphanage too.)

Despite the relative popularity of Young comrades, it was short-lived: only eight numbers were published before the journal was closed the same year that it was launched due to financial issues. Only 8 numbers were ever published.

From the library of Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich (1873-1955), Vladimir Lenin's personal secretary.

We couldn’t trace any copy of this edition in the USA or European libraries via OCLC.