The biographical story by Grigory Belykh (1906-1938) and L. Panteleyev (real name Aleksey Yeremeyev; 1908-1987), former "citizens" of the Republic of "SHKID", written by them just three years after finishing school, was published in 1927 and immediately gained extraordinary popularity. The book was edited by such masters of Soviet literature as Yevgeny Shvarts and Samuil Marshak.
The story about the life of former street children has been one of the most beloved books of many generations of both young and adult and even older readers for almost a century. Full of humor, mischievous adventures and at the same time dramatic events and piercingly touching episodes, the story is rightfully considered one of the masterpieces of Soviet children's literature.
The very title of the book reflects the desire of yesterday's street children to call everything "in the Soviet way, in abbreviated form", which was typical of those years. SHKID is the Dostoevsky Commune School, founded in 1920 in Petrograd for homeless children. Its director, Viktor Nikolaevich Sorokin (the prototype is the actual founder of the school, Viktor Nikolaevich Soroka-Rosinsky), in the book - Vikniksor, his wife Ella Andreyevna Lyumberg - Elanlyum, the gymnastics teacher Konstantin Aleksandrovich Mednikov - Kostalmed, and so on. The nicknames, offensive at first, become respectful over time - the children appreciated and loved their wise and kind mentors. And the "Shkids" with their funny nicknames - Yankel (this is Grigory Belykh himself; in the book - Chernykh), Kupa Kupych, Tsygan, Dze, Mamochka, Lenka (L. Panteleev), Yaponets and all the others became the favorite heroes of many generations of readers. The authors of the book managed to vividly and authentically convey the atmosphere of this amazing school, which helped to reveal the numerous talents of its students and made worthy people out of former punks.
In 1966, a wonderful film of the same name was shot based on the book (directed by Gennady Poloka), in which such brilliant actors as Sergei Yursky, Pavel Luspekaev and others played. The film truly became a "cult" for those years. Schoolchildren ran away from classes to watch their favorite movie for the third, fifth time, and some even more. The film was instantly "taken apart into quotes", many of which are still alive today.
For middle and high school age.