Books for Kids

Wonderful book includes Russian folk fairy tales, nursery rhymes and verses for little ones. Learn More

The underground masterpiece of twentieth-century Russian fiction, this classic novel was written during Stalin’s regime and could not be published until many years after its author’s death. When the devil arrives in 1930s Moscow, consorting with a retinue of odd associates—including a talking black cat, an assassin, and a beautiful naked witch—his antics wreak havoc among the literary elite of the world capital of atheism. Meanwhile, the Master, author of an unpublished novel about Jesus and Pontius Pilate, languishes in despair in a psychiatric hospital, while his devoted lover, Margarita, decides to sell her soul to save him. As Bulgakov’s dazzlingly exuberant narrative weaves back and forth between Moscow and ancient Jerusalem, studded with scenes ranging from a giddy Satanic ball to the murder of Judas in Gethsemane, Margarita’s enduring love for the Master joins the strands of plot across space and time. Learn More

To Alexei Tolstoy (1883-1945) history, in addition to an artistic theme, was also a means of studying life. The novel "Peter the Great" was preceded by various works on this theme (Peters Day, On the Rack) which depict the formative stages of the authors conception of history. Tolstoy published the first part of the novel in 1929, the second in 1934, working on the third part until the day of his death, yet leaving it unfinished.The novel is dynamic. It shows the epoch and Peter himself, a true national hero of Russia and creator of the Russian state, in all their magnificence and multiplicity, in all their contradictions. The author describes the transformation of Russia into a mighty power. The novel is imbued with pride for Russia and faith in the Russian people. This profoundly realistic work has greatly influenced Soviet writers working in the field of history. Tolstoy won the Stalin Prize for this novel. Learn More

Best known for The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov is one of twentieth-century Russia's most prominent novelists. Learn More

This is an excellent Russian retelling of the Pinocchio stories by Alexei Tolstoy. The book is in extra-large format. With expressive color illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky. Learn More

Tolstoy's adaptation of Pinnochio - a wooden puppet searches for the key that will open the door to heaven. Tolstoy had the book as a child but then lost, so each time he retold the story to his friends it was slightly different and contained some adventures that were not in the original book at all. Learn More