In the pre-war years, many efforts were made for issuing children’s literature in Omsk. 1940 saw the release of 12 copies of a children’s anthology named Young Falcons. It was a compilation of works of diverse genres on various subjects.
Mostly, the anthology represents the works of a famous Omsk writer LeonId MartYnov. In 1939, Martynov came to literary fame after his book Poems and Verses was published. His pieces steeped in Siberian history were discovered and estimated by Konstantin Simonov.
Martynov published a collection of his verses and a translation of Henry Longfellow’s poem The Arrow and the Song. He also published a historical and documentary novella “Storyteller Yershov”, portraying specific life periods of Pyotr Yershov, the author of the Humpbacked Horse, under the pen name A. NagIbin. The novella covers Yershov’s childhood, studying in Saint Petersburg University, teaching in Tobolsk, and the last years of his life. ‘<…> Today, Yershov’s fairy-tale is as popular as ever. I read in the newspaper that Saint-Léon choreographed the ballet Humpbacked Horse. But no one remembers who wrote the fairy-tale itself. If Pushkin was alive, he would remember. But he is not. Yershov’s friends write to him more and more seldom, they are not interested in a sick old man, retired grammar school headmaster, living his last days in Tobolsk. Even his dearest old friend Yaroslavtsev barely writes to Yershov. Rarely does Yershov write to him as well. There is nothing to write about. About what? What for? Why? Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov. Who needs him now? <…> Who needs old man Yershov? Who does?..’
Writer Viktor Utkov is represented in the anthology with a few small sketches from the series Northern Stories. In addition, Young Falcons included works by young authors Boris Ryabinin (The Story of Two Dobermanns), Sergey Fedotov (The Ballad of Three Partisans), Vasily Sychov (The Story of an Extraordinary Garden), Sergey Shemonayev (A Horse Is Crossing the River), and verses by Arkady Sitkovsky. The anthology ends with a section Interesting Books which runs through newly released children’s books in an entertaining manner.
