This is a Soviet children’s atlas that my mother got for me when I was 5 years old.1
(click illustrations to see full-size version)
I remember being enthralled by it. You can see, in the well-worn pages, the time I spent leafing through this thing.
Looking through it again, after all these years, what amazes me most, I think, is how comprehensive this thin soft-cover book is.
We’ve got astronomy…
The Starry Sky
The Solar System / The Sun and the Planets
Space exploration…
Exploring the Cosmos
Ok, that’s to be expected. But then we get more: meteorology…
The Earth—The Planet On Which We Live
map-reading skills…
Studying Our Native Land
geography…
The Globe. Physical Map of the Hemispheres
geology…
Physical Map of the USSR
zoology…
Plants and Animals of the Far North and the Tundra
hydrology…
Surface Landforms
ecology…
Biomes of the USSR
conservationism…
Man’s Guardianship of Nature
woodcraft…
Studying Our Native Land
anthropology…
Europe
history…
Great Geographical Discoveries
Calling this a “science class packed into a book” would be an understatement; this is more like “every science class, packed into one book”. I think that there’s more here, in these 70 pages, than what many American schoolkids learn in—and what most American schoolkids remember from—their entire K-12 education.
The illustrations, too, are quite something. The cartoonishly drawn nameless boy and girl—the reader stand-ins—are an interesting juxtaposition with the fully accurate and comprehensive maps and the gorgeous drawings of the world’s plants and animals. The way the kids are drawn, inserted into every scene—in mountain-climbing gear:
Surface Landforms
… with a compass and backpack:
Studying Our Native Land
… in space suits:
This Wondrous World
… not to mention this illustration of the girl piloting a helicopter while the boy clings to a rope ladder dangling out of the ’copter’s door:
Our Motherland on the Globe and on the Map
… really conveys a sense of “our world is amazing and full of wonder; and you, every one of you kids reading this at home, can go out and explore it!”
I wanted to do that. I opened this atlas, and I read it, and I wanted to go out and explore the world. I’m not going to credit my interest in science entirely to this book, but I’ve no doubt that it contributed.
Head over to the wiki and check out the complete gallery.
1 It cost 1 ruble, 46 kopecks, according to the frontmatter. I guess that’s about $50 in 2017 dollars? Wow! ⇑
2 This is an idiomatic translation; “World and Person” or “World and Human” would be more accurate, as the Russian word человек implies no gender. The intended meaning, in any case, is something like “The World and Humanity”. ⇑
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