Vengrov, Natan (born Moisei Vengrov), and V[ladimir] Konashevich, artist.

[SOVIET CHILDREN'S BOOK] Khlopot polon rot [A mouthful of worries].

Moscow: GIZ (State Publisher), 1929. Octavo (19 × 15 cm). Original staple-stitched chromolithographed wrappers; [10] pp. of chromolithographed illustrations and text, including wrappers. Professional restoration to wrappers; internally very good. Item #55676

A delightful and virtually unknown children’s book about a little boy who has to feed all his animals first thing in the morning, including a caged bird, a dog, a cat, a piglet, a chicken, a cow, and a turkey, and the pesky fly who follows him on his chores, with chromolithograph illustrations throughout. The author of the text, Natan Vengrov (1894–1962) started out as a children’s book author as a part of the Futurist publishing collective Artel “Segodnia” (Artist Collective “Today”; 1918–1919), which printed children’s books, poetry, and "lubki" by left-leaning artists, collaborating with Vera Yermolaeva, Natan Al’tman, and Elena Turova, among others. Although short-lived, the activities of “Segodnia” became a path-breaking event in the history of the Soviet children’s book (Evgeny Steiner, Stories for Little Comrades, pp. 13–22). Vengrov would go on to become the editor of the children’s journal Yozh (The Hedghog), later becoming the editor of the children’s monthly journal Murzilka in 1933–1937.

The illustrations for the volume are by the graphic artist Vladimir Konashevich (1888–1963). A professor at the Leningrad Academy of Arts (1921–1930) and a member of Mir Iskusstv (1922–1924), he illustrated dozens of children’s books, often using hand-drawn lettering in his illustrations, including in this volume. Among his best-known works are illustrations for “Igra” and “Million” by Daniil Kharms, “Skazka o glupom myshonke” by Samuil Marshak, “Koshki v lukoshke” and “Mukha tsikotukha” by Kornei Chukovskii.

This volume not in the Lur'e collection (Kniga dlia detei 1881–1939, Moscow: ULEI, 2009), which shows close to 30 volumes illustrated by the artist, with this volume stylistically closest to nos. 308 and 371 in the collection.

As of March 2026, KVK, OCLC show only one copy worldwide, in North America.

Price: €1,500.00

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