Silly Horse

by Vadim Levin and Cleo Qian

Book Overview

Thirty-five years ago this collection of poems caused a wave of enthusiasm in Russia and became a bestseller because of its unusual language style--the Russian poems were written to sound as though... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 096460101X
• ISBN13: 9780964601017
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Pumpkin House Press
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.4" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 3 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 5

Customer Reviews

Silly Horse - one of the best books for kids aged 3 to 99

In 1969 a slim children book titled "Silly Horse" by an unknown author Vadim Levin was published in a provincial Russian town by an obscure publishing house. In a country with a rather glorious tradition of the children literature, maintained by famous writers and poets, it became an immediate hit and favorite of the kids and their parents alike. Its brilliant wit where every word was as made of gold (and none of false gold), accompanied by excellent illustrations by Spartak Kolachov, has won hearts of millions. The book had a subtitle: "Retellings, imitations and translations from the English" but it was rather obvious that the author was fooling his readers and presented his original poetry. In the Moscow 2003 edition he openly admits the mystification. The subtitle is now read as "The newest ancient English ballads" and in the Foreword Mr. Levin writes: "My translations of the ancient English ballads... are so new that the British have not yet had an opportunity to write their originals. Therefore, I am calling them pre-originals." Well, now at last "the British" did find the time to write the "originals." Pumpkin House published this book, ably translated by Tanya Wolfson and Tatiana Zunshine and with new illustrations by Evgeny Antonenkov, in the US. I dare to say that these translations are almost as good as the Russian originals though I do miss the illustrations by Spartak Kolachov. Recently I purchased several pairs of these books - its Russian original and the American edition - and gifted them to my friends with three generations in the house: the originals - for grandparents and parents, the translations - for their grandchildren who already do not know Russian. My absolute favorite is "A Really Scary Midnight Tale with a Telescope": Mr. and Mrs. Bockley Woke up in a state of unrest. Mr. and Mrs. Bockley Unlocked the family chest. Inside they rummaged and groped Till under the old knicknacks They found A telescope And walnuts - Four heavy sacks. Then, with the increased solemnity, the story describes how Mr. and Mrs. Bockley climbed the stairs of the old house until they exited to the rooftop, and the readers expect them to make interesting discoveries with their telescope, probably to see pirate ships? Instead, At the edge of the slanting slope Until the break of dawn THEY CRACKED NUTS WITH THE TELESCOPE And the shells they threw down, down, down. This unexpected outcome results in good laugh, and here comes my reservation. The good humor requires no explanation, but to his 2003 edition Vadim Levin added, and the translators dutifully conveyed: Yes, but promise You'll never throw junk From the roof... Never crack nuts With an optical instrument! In my view, it is a completely unneeded moralistic lecture. Also, the Russian original has a charming short story: "Mr. Snow, Mr. Snow, Will you give another show?" "Yes, indeed, one day from now." ("One hour from now" - in the Russian text) "Thank you kindly, Mr. Snow." The

Long-awaited "backward" translation

"Silly Horse" was a book of my childhood, and I hope it'll be such for my children too. It's author, Vadim Levin, wrote it in Russian following the style of Russian translations of English nursery rhymes. They match 100%, so it's only fair that they have now been translated to English too. The pictures are also wonderful. I would recommend owning it together with the original version, of course.

Shel-Silverstein-esque poems, great illustrations!

It's a mystery to me how the translators did such a wonderful job with the rhyme and yet managed to keep the content of these poems, but apparently they did - to great effect! This is a fun and silly book of fun and silly poems with fantastic illustrations.