BSAMLA congratulates you on Children’s Day!

June 1 is International Children’s Day. It began to be celebrated in 1950, but there has always been attention to children in society, including from creative people and especially writers. Many works of fiction are written for children and about children. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that in history there were cases when there were not even enough works for children and it was necessary to remind about this, to encourage creators to be interested in children’s themes.

In the 30s of the twentieth century, Mikhail Lynkov also became known as a children’s writer. He repeatedly expressed concern that little was being written about and for children at the time. He was one of the initiators of the All-Belarusian competition for the best book for children, which was held in 1932. Speaking at a children’s book evening, M. Lynkov even made an appeal: «In 1931, every writer must present at least one work of fiction written specifically for children» («Zvyazda», 1931, March 25). And he himself set an example. Soon the writer appeared in print with works addressed to the younger generation. In 1935, a great story for children, «Yanka the Paratrooper,» was published. In the same year, the newspaper «Literature and Mastatstva» introduced readers to excerpts from M. Lynkov’s new stories «The Great Courage of Mishka and the Slain Tractors» and «Mikolka the Steam Locomotive.» The first of them was fully published in the same year in the magazine «Polymya Revaluations», the second – in 1936, and in 1937 these works were published in a separate edition and immediately received a positive response in the press.

Particularly popular was the story «Mikolka the Paravoz», in which the writer told about the life of the boy Mikolka, the son of a railway worker, during the 1917 revolution and the Civil War. Lynkov’s father also worked on the railway, the writer knew well what he was writing about, but the story is far from autobiographical. Mikolka is an inquisitive, smart and brave boy. He helps the partisans, even saves them in difficult situations. Based on the story, performances were staged, a radio production was made, and in 1957 the film «Mikolka the Paravoz» was released, based on the script by M. Lynkov and M. Sadkovich (directed by L. Golub).

After the publication of the story «Mikolka the Steam Locomotive,» the universal love of children always surrounded the name of M. Lynkov. In the last decades of the writer’s life, numerous excursions of schoolchildren came to his dacha in Naroch every summer, Michal Tikhonovich repeatedly performed at schools.

Mikhas Lynkov continued to be a supporter of the theme of childhood in his work. In his pre-war stories «The Great Cotton Yaska», «The Poison Oak», «Give me a Star» this theme was continued. He was one of the first in Belarusian literature to begin writing about children who found themselves in the occupied territory during the Great Patriotic War, who experienced the horrors of fascism, who showed heroism in the fight against the enemy (stories «Vasilka», «Dzitsyachy Shoe», «Iryna», «Inept Songs» «). After the war, while abroad as part of the Belarusian delegation to the UN, Mikhas Lynkov drew attention to how children live in the United States. He wrote about this in the stories «The Black Spot», «Giovanni», «The Price of Blood».

During meetings with children in schools and pioneer camps, Mikhas Lynkov repeatedly heard proposals to continue the history of Mikolka-Parovoz during the Great Patriotic War. He both jokingly and seriously argued that Mikolka was no longer a teenager by the time of the war and promised to write a new work for children. But work on the epic «Days of Ages» took a lot of time and he failed to fulfill his promise.

Today in Belarusian literature there are many authors writing for children and about children. Among them is our charming employee, leading archivist of the department of information retrieval systems and automated archival technologies of the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art, prose writer and playwright, member of the Union of Writers of Belarus and Russia Natalya Georgievna Pustilnik-Marchuk. Her book of fairy tales based on Belarusian legends, «Night Tales of Polesie,» has been very popular for a number of years. Her plays are performed with constant success in theaters in Belarus and Russia. The most famous of them is «Auntie Cold and New Year».

Dear children, dear adults! The staff of the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art congratulates you on the holiday! Be happy in life, may your summer and summer holidays be filled with joy!

Photo 1. Mikhail Tikhonovich Lynkov

Photo 2. Cover of Mikhas Lynkov’s book «Mikolka the Steam Locomotive»

Photo 3. Natalya Georgievna Pustilnik-Marchuk and her books