Raccoon and opossum

John and John. Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Little Boy and the Mouse. Translated by A. Sergeev        

I Threw the Ball. Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Raccoon and the Opossum. Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Eagle and the Frog. Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Blacksmith. Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Hammer and the Bell. Translated by I. Tokmakova

I Saw It in My Childhood—I Remember It Still. Translated by A.

Sergeev

The Riddle. Translated by I. Tokmakova

One Potato, Two Potatoes. Translated by A. Sergeev

A Teasing Rhyme About the People of Cape Cod. Translated by A.

Sergeev

The Chicken Is Gone. Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Little Boy. Translated by I. Tokmakova        

Eek, Beak, Coffee, Cracker. Translated by A. Sergeev

May I Come In, Sir? Translated by A. Sergeev        

The Fox and the Chicken. Translated by A. Sergeev

Once I Found a Penny in the Mud. Translated by A.

Sergeev

Imy, Mini. Translated by A. Sergeev        

How Do You Do? Translated by I. Tokmakova        

Once I Saw. Translated by A. Sergeev        

Up There, So There. Translated by A. Sergeev

How to Spell the Name of the State. Translated by

A. Sergeev

The Teapot. Translated by A. Sergeev

The Alphabet. Translated by I. Tokmakova        

Sleep, My Little Daughter. Translated by I. Tokmakova        

and others.

Many parents remember from childhood the cheerful, slightly absurd verses from the book "The Raccoon and the Opossum", published only once, in 1978.

For example:

"I'm a teapot, a grumbler, a fuss-maker, a crazy one. / I show my belly to everyone. / I boil the tea, bubble and shout: /- Hey, people, I want to have tea with you!"

Or, for example, a counting rhyme consisting half of non-existent words: "I walked along the ham-ber-jam-ber. / Along the ham-ber-jam-ber-joni / And suddenly I saw a rig-ma-jig / Dragging a bonny by the neck. / Oh, if only a hob-ma-gog were with me, / My hob-ma-gob-ma-goni, / I would have shot the rig-ma-jig / For stealing the poor bonny." The root morphemes in the words are replaced with random combinations of sounds. Despite this, the general meaning of the counting rhyme is clear—a person saw a predator seize its prey and regretted not having a gun to save the poor thing from its fate. The rhythmic, intuitively understandable text is organically reproduced in the dramatic illustration: the fox carried off the chicken.

The peculiar, sometimes unexpected songs and counting rhymes are masterfully translated into Russian by Andrei Sergeev and Irina Tokmakova. The illustrations by Elena Chaiko and Mikhail Gran, just as peculiar and unexpected as the text, are reproduced from the originals. All together—the text and the illustrations—give the book an indescribable charm and elegance.