Comments on: Russian books for naughty children

By: Alli

Alli — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:50:33 +0000

I can see these type of books working really well. When my son turned 3, he became the defiant child from hell (terrible twos? feh). Telling him no didn’t work. Reasoning didn’t work. Then one day, when he was kicking the back of the passenger seat (again) I told him I was going to chew off his feet and feed them to the cat. He thought that was HILARIOUS. And stopped. Now, whenever he misbehaves, we usually tell him something utterly ridiculous. Like if he is touching things he’s been told to leave alone, we tell him we’re going to unscrew his hands, and then how is he going to eat his ice cream cones?

Kids are weird. And I wish these type of books would return; Elmo isn’t making it for us.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:13:03 +0000

I had a German teacher in college who told us about a classic storybook for German children. I can’t remember all of the details but it seemed to follow the pattern of the book in the post. If you do that, then this will happen. I’m not sure what the offense was (the “this”) but the consequence was that the child would burst into flames. It was then accompanied by a darling illustration of a child running with flames all over. Good times. Would anyone out there happen to know the title? I would love to have one just for kicks.

By: mor

mor — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:48:03 +0000

When I was little, I had a book with many short stories in it that were pretty awful.

One story was about a boy who was very mean to everyone. One day, he hit a dog and the dog bit him back. The boy ended up in bed (and couldn’t get out of bed for some reason). The boy’s mom made him his favorite meal but, since he couldn’t get out of bed, the dog ended up eating it for him.

Then there was one where the boy who didn’t clean himself was thrown into the trash.

And the boy who looked up at the sky as he walked (and didn’t pay attention) fell into a lake and had all the fish laugh at him (and steal his bookbag, if i recall correctly).

Sadly, this was my favorite book growing up. But hey, I turned out alright :)

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:40:38 +0000

One word (well, technically two, I suppose): Struwwelpeter.

There really is no beating the Germans when it comes to horrific children’s stories. (The title character chops off the fingers of children who suck their thumbs, and it just gets worse from there…)

I recommend Googling for Mark Twain’s translation. The full text is very available online.

By: James

James — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:31:25 +0000

Yeah. The Translations are completely wrong. I mean, look at the length of the statements even.

The first one that is supposedly about ugly monks coming and taking you away really says “You didn’t pickup your toys. You left them on the floor.”

It’s possible the book really does have these quotes though, because they sound very soviet russia. Maybe they are just not the quotes that are right next to the picture.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:11:56 +0000

I speak Russian and the translations are a hoax. Someone just thought that it would be funny to make up there own words. They really aren’t even close. It’s funny though.

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:14:51 +0000

I am with the Baba Yaga camp. I can remember very clearly stories of Baba Yaga’s cabin on chicken legs,and they were way more terrifying than monks. My auntie told me plenty of Baba stories to keep my behaviour in line. She travelled by rowing a mortar with a pestle like a boat. Every time I saw a pharmacy I was convinced she had parked there and I’d better be darn good.

By: Sergey

Sergey — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:23:02 +0000

Well, translations are loose, for example there is no mention of monks in the first picture. Those are the old ladies, and they look like Baba Yaga and their hut is the one with chicken legs. :-)
This book appeared in 90’s. Apparently author wanted to make some money with this funny stuff. Those were the wild years. :-)

By: Pointy-Hatted Geek

Pointy-Hatted Geek — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:18:14 +0000

That’s one weird-looking cat.

By: Jud

Jud — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:14:34 +0000

Doesn’t the hut with the chicken legs look a lot like Baba Yaga’s hut from Slavic folklore?