In the World of Little Tummies

Dmitry Bykov and Irina Lukyanova wrote a “children’s book for adults, an adult book for children”—that’s exactly how the authors described the genre of their fairy-tale stories, which are simultaneously fairy tales, political pamphlets, anecdotes, and satirical sketches.

Sometimes, they are prose fables with instructive, naturally implied conclusions. But clever writers Bykov and Lukyanova (by the way, they are husband and wife) do not bore us with “strict morals” and do not try to realize their educational potential in prose—which, you’ll agree, is pleasant both for readers and for radio listeners. They give adults and not-quite-adults—and even partially adults—the chance to smile, laugh, and find something interesting for themselves not only in the world of the invented “little animals,” but also in our Russian reality.