In what genre did Dunno draw pictures? Who wrote "Dunno"? Nikolai Nikolaevich Nosov - Soviet children's writer. Why Dunno didn’t become a national hero

Dunno- one of the most famous heroes of children's fairy-tale books. As children, we all read this book with pleasure and followed with interest the adventures of Dunno and other kids.
Did you know that Dunno is an elf by origin? Then now you will know))

So, Dunno is the most famous shorty of the Flower City, the main character of the trilogy by Nikolai Nosov dedicated to his adventures.

And although many children live in the Flower City, including the scientist Znayka, the mechanic Shpuntik, and the musician Guslya, it was the dunce and fidget Dunno who became the favorite book hero.

Why?
The answer is simple - because of charm! Yes Yes! The same charm that makes this baby irresistibly attractive and gives him the opportunity to win the reader’s heart.
Besides, Dunno is not so simple. He is very curious, sociable and not at all devoid of talent.
Judge for yourself: the first time he picked up brushes and paints, he painted portraits of all his friends in one night. Well, the fact that he worked more in the genre of cartoons than realistic portraits only speaks of the uniqueness of his artistic gift.))

Or his poetic experiments. After all, literally the day before he did not yet know what “rhyme” was, but decided to devote himself to literary creativity, and, one might say, he immediately created poetic masterpieces:

Toropyzhka was hungry,

Swallowed a cold iron.

Avoska has it under his pillow

There is a sweet cheesecake.

Just think, what power of imagination, what expression!))
Compare these poetic lines with at least the verses of the poet Tsvetik:

A huge ball inflated with steam,

It was not for nothing that he rose into the air,

At least our little guy is not a bird,

It's still fit to fly.

And everything is available, ehma!

Now for our minds!

But Tsvetik is a professional, while Dunno took only his first steps in the poetic field.

And what a thirst for new knowledge and breadth of interests our hero has! As soon as he put aside his brushes and paints, the echoes of his poetic experiments were still in the air, and he was already sitting behind the wheel of the carbonated car that Vintik and Shpuntik had built. And even without really knowing how this car works, Dunno was able to not only start it the first time, but also drive it like a breeze throughout the city. Yes, of course, not without some incidents...

This is how he is, Dunno, versatile, inquisitive, cheerful and, most importantly, strikingly similar to any (not fairy-tale, but real) boy.
Actually, this is the main thing. After all, Dunno, in essence, is the quintessence of a boy’s character and behavior.

Little Dunno is, without a doubt, N.N. Nosov’s great success. Although by and large all the writer’s previous heroes are “dunnos.” Vitya Maleev and Kolya Sinitsyn from the stories, Mishka and Kolya from the stories are boys who still know and can do little, but strive to try, learn and do everything.
In general, N. Nosov uses and plays with “ignorance” associated with childish naivety masterfully, making it serve in his works (realistic and fairy-tale) as both the main engine of the plot and the main source of the comic.
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The history of the creation of Dunno is very interesting.

Did Dunno have a prototype? Was! Or rather, they were. From quite real to quite fabulous.
They say that Dunno is literally copied from N. Nosov’s son, Peter. And his hair was curly, unruly, and by nature he was fidgety.
From his creator, N.N. Nosov himself, the hero also inherited some traits. For example, the short guys have said more than once that Dunno is a master of making things up. He undoubtedly got this gift from Nikolai Nikolaevich.

According to Nosov himself, Dunno (and other kids) have the following life prototype:

“This is a child in general, with the restless thirst for activity inherent in his age, an ineradicable thirst for knowledge and at the same time with restlessness, the inability to hold his attention - in general, with all the good inclinations that the child has to strengthen and develop, and with shortcomings from which I need to get rid of it."

Flower City Shorties

But Dunno also had fairy-tale prototypes that weren’t even real.
It’s simply amazing and unexpected, it turns out that Dunno is in the past - Murzilka, and besides, he’s also an elf!
Stanislav Rassadin, in a book about Nosov’s work, writes that Nikolai Nikolaevich told him about a fairy tale he read in childhood “The Kingdom of Little Ones: The Adventures of Murzilka and the Forest Men”. Memories of this book prompted him to think about a new hero - Dunno.
This book was very popular at the turn of the century. Its heroes were little elves with funny names (Murzilka, Chumilka-Vedun, etc.), and the basis of the plot was their travels and adventures.

Murzilka and his friends first appeared on the pages of the magazine “Sincere Word” in 1887 in the fairy tale “A boy as big as a finger, a girl as big as a nail.” The author of this tale was the writer Anna Khvolson, and the illustrations were drawings from comics by a Canadian artist Palmer Cox. The main character was Murzilka- a man in a tailcoat, with a cane and a monocle.

By the way, the elves of A.B. Khvolson do not have much resemblance to the folklore elves who live in fairy tales and legends of many peoples of the world.

At the end of the article it is given list of books, which will tell in detail about elves and other representatives of the vast “little people” - gnomes, dwarfs, miniatures, leprechauns, etc. By the way, among the fabulous miniature population there are also our homegrown ones. For example, have you heard about scaffolding or pain-bobs?))
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The first edition of the book Kingdom of the Little Ones", including 27 stories and 182 drawings, was published in 1889, and after 1917 A. B. Khvolson’s book was not reprinted. Therefore, almost no one knew about the relationship between the heroes A. Khvolson and N. Nosov.

And it turned out that Murzilka is incredibly similar to Dunno. He is the same braggart, lazy and troublemaker, who, because of his character, constantly gets into various troubles.

Although the character of Murzilka is similar to the character of his literary descendant, Dunno is written out much more vividly and voluminously. And if Khvolson’s hero is deliberately caricatured, then Nosov’s is a lively and charming boy. Therefore, readers only laugh at the careless and boastful Murzilka, but they often sympathize with Dunno, sincerely pity and love him.

But let's return to Murzilka. Why, having “borrowed” the image of the hero from Khvolson, although transforming it, Nosov neglected his name? Yes, because in the middle of the 20th century this name was already very “promoted” by a popular children's magazine.

And you Murzilka through the efforts of the artist A.M.Kanevsky in 1937, he turned from a forest elf into a yellow, fluffy character in a beret, with a scarf and a camera over his shoulder.
So Nosov had to look for another name for his hero. And in this he was helped by the same little elves Khvolson, one of whom, Dunno, was Znayka’s brother and his complete antipode.

The first publication in the magazine "Barvinok" was published in 1953-1954. in two languages ​​- Russian and Ukrainian (translated by F. Makivchuk) - under the title “The Adventures of Dunno and His Comrades” with the subtitle “fairy tale-story”.

A successful choice of illustrators played a significant role in winning Dunno’s love among young readers. The first two parts of the trilogy were illustrated A. Laptev, third - G. Valkom.

And the portrait turned out so successful and similar to the original that subsequent “portrait painters” repeated and played up the image created by A.M. Laptev.
Nosov received the State Prize of the RSFSR named after him for the trilogy about Dunno in 1969. N.K. Krupskaya.
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As for literary prototypes, Dunno has another one, already ours, indigenous, Russian.

Here are two quotes.

1.
- Tell me, please, who came up with the idea of ​​flying in a hot air balloon?

“It’s me,” answered Dunno...

...Our kids have been asking me for a long time to come up with something: “Think of something, brother, come up with something.” I say: “Brothers, I’m already tired of inventing things. Come up with it yourself." They say: “Where are we going?” We are stupid, and you are smart. What does it cost you? Come up with it!” “Okay,” I say. - What should I do with you? I'll figure it out." And I began to think...

I thought for three days and three nights, and what would you think? I figured it out! “Here, I say, brothers: you will have a ball!” And he made a ball.
N.N. Nosov. Adventures of Dunno and his friends. Ch. XIII. Conversation at the table.

2.
Anna Andreevna. Is that how you write? How pleasant this must be for a writer! Is it true that you also publish them in magazines?
Khlestakov. Yes, I publish them in magazines too. However, there are many of my works. The Marriage of Figaro, Robert the Devil, Norma. I don’t even remember the names. And it all happened by chance: I didn’t want to write, but the theater management said: “Please, brother, write something.” I think to myself: “If you please, brother!” And then in one evening, it seems, he wrote everything, astonishing everyone. I have an extraordinary lightness in my thoughts...”
N.V.Gogol. Inspector. Act III. Phenomenon VI.
Even these lines are quite enough to reveal the undoubted similarities between the two heroes.

And more about literary relatives.

Dunno and his short friends have another very numerous relatives - “little men” from fairy tales: Thumb Thumb by Ch. Perrot, Thumbelina by H. C. Andersen, Pinocchio by C. Collodi and his twin brother Buratino A.N. Tolstoy, Cipollino D. Rodari...

All these literary children arose for one reason - the little reader is close to the little hero with whom he can identify himself.
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Having acquired his visual image through the efforts of artists, Dunno boldly stepped beyond the pages of his native book. Dunno can be found anywhere. In cartoons and on theater stages, in children's periodicals, on radio and television, at carnivals (by the way, the Dunno costume is a win-win and very inexpensive option) and quizzes. There are “Dunno” toys, “Dunno” candies, etc.
Candy wrapper

Even in exotic Japan, the famous confectioner Matsuo Kokado borrowed the name and image of the Nosovsky hero for his delicious products.

About cartoons about Dunno
(Go here if you want to find out which ones)
Cartoons about Dunno have been shown on the screens of our country since the early 1960s. Not so long ago, a cartoon of the “new generation” appeared - “Dunno on the Moon”. Director A. Lyutkevich not only saw an ideal animated story in N. Nosov’s novel and G. O. Valk’s illustrations, but also brought it to screen life.
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And there is also such a disease - “Dunno Syndrome” or “disturbed attention syndrome.” It is often the cause of “bad” behavior in children. Their increased impulsiveness, inattention and hyperactivity do not fit well into traditional patterns of behavior and interfere with their studies.
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What an interesting story Dunno has!
Author Irina Kazyulkina
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Book lists

A small list of books about small creatures

Appenzeller T. Gnomes/ Per. V. Shartova.
Bulychev Kir. Fantastic bestiary.
Hare V. Ghosts and spirits.
Kanevsky A. Monsters and Monsters.
Mythological bestiary: From Alkost to Yagil.
Fairies and elves.
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Bibliography - a source of food for thought

Begak B. The wanderings continue.

Life and work of Nikolai Nosov.
A very good collection, well compiled and very diverse. Here are articles by Y. Olesha, V. Kataev, L. Kassil (what names!).

Karlov B. “I only know that I don’t know anything,” said Socrates, but he didn’t know Dunno: All about Dunno// Five corners. - 1996. - No. 19.
This article by Boris Karlov presented many facts, ideas and associations, based on which we built our material about the Nosovsky hero.

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A song about a grasshopper-cucumber who sat in the grass and did not complain about life until the frog came, brought tears to almost every Soviet child. The creator of this “suffering ballad” was who included the chorus in “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends.” According to researchers, this story teaches people of all ages about political economy, because from it you can learn who the police really protect, as well as what a market economy is.

The little man, who never appears without a hat with a huge brim, is loved by both children and adults. And even if this hero does not shine with intelligence, like Znayka, he values ​​​​friendship and is ready for heroic deeds for the sake of loved ones. Lovers of fairy tales still enthusiastically read about the magical Flower City and its tiny inhabitants. It is noteworthy that in 1969, for a trilogy of works about Dunno, Nosov was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR named after.

History of creation

The first to come up with Dunno was not Nikolai Nosov, but the Canadian illustrator Palmer Cox, who delighted bookstore regulars with satirical comics about good-natured but mischievous heroes, who were dubbed in mythology the word “brownies.” These little people got up to various tricks together, had fun and plunged into wild adventures.

Cox managed to invent about a hundred “brownies” and, moreover, endowed them with an individual appearance and eccentric character traits. Thus, on the pages of magazines, readers saw a sophisticated gentleman in a top hat and monocle, a Chinese man dressed in traditional clothes, and a leader with feathers on his head and war paint.

Among the shorties were even the former nihilist Russian professor Kotchakoff and a character named Dunno. Cox's pictures were quite intriguing, but the raw text itself required serious literary processing, and the creator did not individualize the speech of individual characters who communicated with each other in a stereotypical dialect.

Not only Canadian, but also Russian fans of graphic novels became acquainted with the little fidgets, and Cox’s original text was freely translated by children’s writer Anna Khvolson. The first edition of her book about forest people, entitled “The Kingdom of Little Ones,” was published in 1889.

Later, everyone forgot about the cheerful “brownies”, since on May 16, 1924, the magazine “Murzilka” appeared in stalls and bookstores, where girls, boys and their parents were delighted with a yellow hero in a red scarf. Therefore, Anna Khvolson’s story, which “sank into oblivion,” was not republished until 1991.

Unfortunately, the story of the creation of the character by Nikolai Nosov is not replete with facts and is shrouded in mystery. But it is known that in 1952 the author met with the Ukrainian writer Bogdan Chaly, who worked as the editor of the magazine “Barvinok”.

The writer shared the idea of ​​“Dunno” with his friend, and the latter suggested placing the manuscript on the pages of the magazine. No sooner said than done: in 1953-1954, the character in the blue hat made his debut in “Periwinkle” in Russian and Ukrainian (translated by F. Makivchuk). The “fairy tale” (this genre was invented by the author himself) was called “The Adventures of Dunno and his comrades.”

Ultimately, the story of Nikolai Nosov grew into a trilogy. In 1958, the second part of the work “Dunno in the Sunny City” was published, which was originally published in the pages of the magazine “Youth”, and then published as a separate book by the publishing house “Detgiz”. The next book about the adventures of the little man - “Dunno on the Moon” - appeared in the magazine “Family and School”, this happened in 1964-65 (later the book received a separate publication).

It is worth noting that Nosov’s works fell in love with young readers not only because of their non-trivial plot. The fact is that the illustrators provided the books with colorful pictures that delighted even the parents.

The artists were Alexei Laptev and Heinrich Valk, and the editions of the “fairy tale” were equipped with dust jackets and color stickers. Therefore, those who bought the early books were very lucky, because subsequent volumes were designed more modestly.

It is noteworthy that the protagonist's hat was mentioned only fleetingly in the text: the author made it known that the headdress was blue. Therefore, initially artists painted it in different ways. Initially, it appeared in the form of a pointed cap, then the hat became a skullcap with a tassel, and only illustrator Alexey Laptev gave the main attribute of Dunno a familiar look.

Biography and plot

A science fiction book with dystopian elements tells about the magical Flower City, which stands on the Cucumber River. Little people lived there - slightly larger than a human finger. The short ones looked after the city, which had a “technological miracle” - a car that ran on sparkling water. It is noteworthy that only boys lived in some houses, and girls in others.

Each of the little men performed a specific function, which corresponded to the kids’ nicknames. For example, Vintik and Shpuntik are jacks of all trades who can fix any breakdown, Dr. Pilyulkin treats children from illnesses, Tube draws colorful pictures, and Donut loves sweets.

So Dunno received such a pseudonym because of his naivety. Since this little guy often gets into trouble, he causes problems for those around him. The hero strives with all his might to acquire new knowledge, but restlessness and inattention play a cruel joke on him. This is how Nikolai Nosov described Dunno in his memoirs:

“...In general, with all the good inclinations that the child will have to strengthen and develop, and with shortcomings that need to be gotten rid of.”

In the first part of the book, Dunno tries to find his place in the sun: he tries to paint, writes poetry, learns to play musical instruments, and so on. But the short man fails to realize himself on his creative path; all his attempts fail.

Next, Dunno becomes a tester of the design that Znayka invented. All the little people travel in a hot air balloon. But due to unforeseen circumstances, the inventor leaves the flying device, and the wind carried the shorties to the Green City, where Dunno meets Snowflake and Blue-Eyed.

While the strict doctor Sorreltail is treating the kids (the little men fell from a balloon, but escaped with minor bruises), Dunno, who had previously managed to separate from his friends, uses his charm and usurps the city, telling his new friends fables from his invented biography: either he is a great musician, or an artist who paints incredible portraits. The happiness of the “master of invention” collapses when Znayka flies to Green City because the scientist exposes the deceiver.

In the second book, Dunno, who has read fairy tales, tries to give good deeds to others, hoping that he will receive gifts from the wizard. However, the main character is unable to do good deeds selflessly, and any attempt ends in failure.

But the short man manages to bring his plans to life, and he receives a magic wand from the sorcerer. Thanks to this attribute, Dunno, together with Button and Patchkulya Motley, go to the Sunny City, where local residents disperse the gray clouds and rejoice at the fireball in the sky.

In the final part, Znayka, who managed to visit the Moon, discovered a way to achieve artificial weightlessness. After the experiment, the scientist decided to build a rocket and go to this planet again, taking the short ones with him.

Since Dunno took Znayka’s invention without permission, the hero lost the opportunity to go on the expedition. Despite the ban, the boy in the blue hat did not miss his chance and, together with his friend Donut, sneaked onto the rocket secretly. At the last moment, the hero changed his mind about committing such an eccentric act, but accidentally pressed the launch button, and the rocket flew up.

Having fallen inside the Moon, Dunno and his friend find themselves in the capitalist world. So Nikolai Nosov depicted and analyzed a satire on Western society: the poor lived in hotels with rats, and the rich swam in stolen money. The main character managed to be both an entrepreneur and an unemployed tramp who was sent by the police to the Island of Fools.

Znayka built a new rocket and flew to the moon. So the rest of the shorties also learned about problems with local order and law and were able to rescue Dunno, who missed his native Earth, Pencil and other characters.

Quotes and phrases

“Everyone who bought the “Newspaper for Fools” said that he bought it not because he considered himself a fool, but because he was interested in finding out what they wrote about there for fools. By the way, this newspaper was run very wisely. Everything in it was clear even to fools. As a result, “Newspaper for Fools” sold in large quantities.”

“If the time comes when everyone feels good, then the rich will definitely feel bad.”

“For some reason you have it written here: “Today for money, tomorrow in debt.” What will happen if you do the opposite: tomorrow for money, today in debt?
The waiter said:
“Go to the hostess, let her explain it to you, but I’m not a philosopher to solve such questions.”

“With nothing to do, Dunno often looked at the picture hanging on the wall with incomprehensible curves and squiggles and kept trying to understand what was drawn on it.”

“If the little guy screamed in pain, the cop would let him go; if the short man endured the pain in silence, the policeman suspected that in front of him was a bald man, hiding his bald head under a skillfully made wig, and sent him for questioning to the police.”

“Well, kiss your Moon! I can live without the Moon!”

“Finally he plucked up enough courage to admit his own cowardice.”

Dunno... Spelling dictionary-reference book

The hero of N.N. Nosov’s fairy-tale trilogy “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” (1954), “Dunno in the Sunny City” (1958), “Dunno on the Moon” (1965). “He was nicknamed N. because he didn’t know anything.” In his bright blue hat, canary trousers and... ... Literary heroes

Nemoguznaika, virgin Dictionary of Russian synonyms. dunno noun, number of synonyms: 2 dunno (1) ... Synonym dictionary

Dunno, and husband. and wives (colloquial). A person who knows little or nothing (in children's speech about children). Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Dunno- The hero of the fairy tale of the trilogy by N.N. Nosov "The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends". The first two parts of the trilogy (“The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” and “Dunno in the Sunny City”) were published in 1953–1958. The third novel, the fairy tale “Dunno on the Moon,” was... ... Linguistic and regional dictionary

M. and f. Fairytale character. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

Dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno (Source: “Full accented paradigm according to A. A. Zaliznyak”) ... Forms of words

dunno- I don’t know, Ika, and, gen. p.m. h. aek, husband and wives and (fairy-tale character) Neznayka, and, husband... Russian spelling dictionary

Dunno- (fairy-tale literary character) ...

dunno- (1 m and f); pl. ignorant, R. ignorant... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

Books

• Dunno in Sunny City, Nosov N.. Dunno did three good deeds in a row, and for this the wizard gave him a magic wand. But he warned that the wand would lose its power if the boy committed three bad deeds. . AND…
• Dunno in Sunny City, Nosov N.. Dunno did three good deeds in a row, and for this the wizard gave him a magic wand. But he warned that the wand would lose its power if the boy committed three bad deeds. And so,…

In essence, Nosov has created a country, no, a whole planet of Lilliputians, in which the appearance of some Gulliver is categorically not envisaged, since large, normal people do not exist there in principle. The inhabitants of the country are called shorties; they are the size of a small cucumber. By gender, shorties are divided into babies and toddlers. Among the short ones there are wise bearded wizards, teaching professors and uncouth youths like Dunno. That is, these are, in fact, tiny adults with the character traits of a child.

The plants in the fairyland are “Giant” (a watermelon is the size of a house), insects too (“a collar made of the fur of a black-brown caterpillar”), but the animals are as small as the short ones themselves (“a bear the size of a rat”).

In the description of the fairy-tale country, the author imposes taboos on the concepts of birth and death (short people are never born and never die, they always exist as an objective reality), as well as on the concepts of romantic or carnal love (light flirting is allowed). By the way, perhaps it is for this reason that “Dunno” is much more popular among the male half of readers, because in the unconscious of the female half the lion’s share of instincts are procreation instincts.

WHAT IS THE GREATEST UNKNAYA?

In addition to the vague definition of “the size of a small cucumber,” upon careful study of the book we can find out Dunno’s absolutely accurate height. First, let's look at chapter sixteen of "Dunno in the Sunny City" and find out that the tall, short Caligula (donkey) was 9.5 nails tall.

“A fingernail is a measure of length in the country of short people. Translated into our measurements, a nail is equal to one centimeter and a quarter. By multiplying nine and a half by a centimeter and a quarter, everyone can find out how tall this Caligula was.”

But this is not the height of Dunno himself, but of a much taller little man. In the ninth chapter of “Dunno on the Moon” we will find a comprehensive description of the parameters of our hero. At the police station they measure him for the criminal file.

“Your height, expressed in standard measurement units, is seventy-two. So you are a short man of average height...”; “We measure the circumference of your head... Like this... Thirty units. We see, then, that you have a big head...”; “We measure your nose and see that it is only two and a half units long, that is, short.”

Assuming that the writer did not complicate the book by inventing non-existent or undeciphered units of measurement, we come to the conclusion that Dunno’s height was 72 mm, his nose was 2.5 mm long, and his head circumference was 30 mm.

TECHNICAL PROGRESS IN THE WORLD OF FANTASTIC MEN

In the first book, the short guys drive a carbonated car and invent a hot air balloon. Returning from the trip, they began to build a bridge, a water supply system and fountains, which they saw in the Green City.

The second book is loaded (in a good way) with detailed descriptions of all kinds of technical devices and even the factory and printing house in Sunny City, where Dunno, Knopochka and Patchkulya Pestrenky end up. These are radiolarians, circulins and planetars, outlandish buildings, cars and even electronic machines playing chess (1958!). Television also appeared in the lives of short people (as in the lives of Soviet people).

In the third book, the technology is already, as they say, on the verge of fantasy. The short guys build a spaceship and go to the moon. Considering that Gagarin’s flight took place in 1961, and “Dunno on the Moon” was published in 1964, it is easy to guess what exactly prompted the writer to take such an unusual step in a fairytale sense.

But, as it turns out, the thought of space flight haunted the writer long before Gagarin’s flight. Here is a fragment from Nosov’s response to the Literaturnaya Gazeta questionnaire:

“...In 1955 I will work on a science fiction story about the latest achievements and prospects for the development of Soviet science in the field of rocket navigation and telemechanics...”

What kind of plans these were remains a mystery to us. In fact, in his interviews, Nosov sometimes made opportunistic, subsequently unsubstantiated statements. For example, he promised to write a book about Lenin.

POLITECONOMY IN THE WORLD OF FANTASTIC MEN

In three books about Dunno, the entire world history of political economy unfolds before us: from an elementary exchange economy to full communism (bypassing developed socialism), and then suddenly to capitalism “decaying” on the Moon.

In the Sunny City (chapter 24), Dunno describes the economy of the Flower City as follows: “...So, you have to give the tailor, say, a pear for his trousers. But if the tailor doesn’t need a pear, but needs, for example, a table, then you should go to the carpenter, give him a pear for making a table, and then exchange this table with the tailor for trousers”... Etc. d.

Yes, it is difficult to live in such an economy. But on the Moon, commodity-money relations are very similar to ours - there is capitalism. Economists call the fairy tale novel “Dunno on the Moon” the most intelligent and accessible textbook on political economy. Having been on the Moon with Dunno, even some blind grandmother will perfectly understand what a joint stock company is, advertising, a corrupt press, a burst bank, a stock exchange, a strike, unemployment, what market relations are, after all. From this book you can find out how Donut became a millionaire and why he went broke. How Dunno wanted to run away with the investors’ money, but he was deceived by his partners.

IN THE GRASS GRASSHOPPER SAT

The best illustrations for “Dunno” are recognized by bibliophiles as the works of artists A. Laptev and G. Valk. Modern editions with drawings by Eug. are also considered good. Kozlova (stylized as Laptev) and A. Borisenko (stylized as Valka). Since in books of this kind, for maximum perception, the visual is no less important than the semantic, try not to spoil the impression of the book for yourself or your younger brother with shoddy or simply ugly drawings.

In the early 70s, a series of puppet films about Dunno was released, which, fortunately, has not been shown for a long time. These films were made by people, of course, who grew up before the book appeared and became familiar with it out of necessity. As a result, the film did not work out, and when the generation of Nosov readers came to TV, they stopped showing the film. The only thing that remained in the public's ear was a stupid little tune about a grasshopper...

WHY DIDN'T NAZNAYKA BECOME A NATIONAL HERO?

As soon as the Disney studio produced Mickey Mouse in the 30s, the entire American industry began to work to elevate this mouse into a cult. Souvenir figurines, images on all imaginable objects, including school notebooks, participation in parades of his life-size dolls, etc. - all this worked for the economy, welfare and authority of America.

Dunno was born in the right place, but certainly not at the right time. No one in Soviet Russia was interested in popularizing their, perhaps the only, national fairy-tale hero. Ideological congestion and the cult of the leader were the main and almost the only postulate of pedagogical science. Even confectionery products were then universally called “October”, “Aurora”, etc.

They say that the famous St. Petersburg art community, led by S. Kuryokhin, chose the image of Dunno as their graphic symbol, as the only hero not borrowed from foreigners. And indeed, let us remember that even our beloved “Pinocchio” is retold from the Italian “Pinocchio”, and “The Wizard of Oz” is from the American “The Wizard of Oz”.

Unborrowed? What about Cox and Khvolson? - you say. And everything is fine. Not a single work of art arose out of nothing. In addition, Nosov’s literature is so much higher, better quality than the primitive graphomania of his predecessors, that it is simply ridiculous to talk about it. Let us also not forget that Palmer Cox was an artist, a cartoonist (undoubtedly talented and outstanding for his time), but not a writer.

Palmer Cox (1850)

WHY FAIRY SHORTIES ARE WORTHY OF LOVE

And by the way, Dunno has much more life and spiritual qualities than other heroes from “serious” literature, not to mention Mickey Mouse. Although Dunno plays the fool in his ordinary life, in extreme situations he shows his best side: risking himself, he saves his friend (Kozlik); at night he is tormented by his conscience for his misdeeds; he is constantly trying to learn something, but does not complete it. Dunno is ingenuous and uncalculating: he says what he thinks, but does everything, on the contrary, without thinking.

All these tiny Nosov people are “adults”, possessing a funny childlike spontaneity, in essence, they are pleasing to God. “Be like children,” says the Holy Scripture. And the short guys from the fairy-tale land do not act pharisaically or hypocritely with the name of God on their lips, they know nothing about Him at all... And this ignorance further increases the value of good deeds or motives, since they do not seem to “count” .

If it's not too difficult, think about it, reader. And in your spare time, open some book by Nikolai Nosov.

OTHER WORKS,
STORIES AND STORIES

If books about Dunno are written by Nosov in the third person, then most of the stories and stories are in the first person. Striving to imitate his idol in everything (in the sense of Nosov, not Dunno), the author of this work also switches to first-person narration.

When I read every book in the world and began to reread those that I especially loved and remembered, I formed a certain hit parade from a variety of writers, the first place in which, to some surprise, was taken by the children's writer Nikolai Nosov.

From a certain age, a stupid psychological barrier arises to reading children's books, which can cut a person off from his favorite works for life. Indeed, when you are in high school and want to become an adult as quickly as possible, reading children's books seems somehow awkward and impractical. And the girls might think that you are some kind of mentally retarded fool. (At the same time, it is considered not at all shameful and even fashionable to read the confused foreign “Alice” or “The Hobbits.”) But when you actually become an adult and there is nothing left of these children’s complexes (others take their place), it turns out to return to these books incredibly interesting. Moreover, children's books are not written by children at all, but by quite adults and people who have gone through everything in the world.

The fact that Nosov is loved was clearly proven to me by recent life experience. For more than a month, from issue to issue, I advertised in the newspaper about my desire to buy the works of this writer. I know for certain that it is in almost every home. However, no one, with the exception of two lonely pensioners, wanted to part with these books. At the same time, a rare, highly specialized technical book was found, which was also listed in my ad with no hope of success. So this book was found, but no one wanted to sell Nosov. They weren't even interested in the price. And this relative failure did not upset me at all; it made me happy.

Here, by the way, I will inform you that the best Nosov editions are the green three-volume edition of 1969 and the yellow four-volume edition of 1979. In the three-volume set, illustrations by A. Laptev and G. Valk are available in full, and in the four-volume set there are very few of them, but there is a 4th volume, which contains the latest works by Nosov, written for adults, as well as a lot of useful information in the comments. I recommend that true Nosov fans have both.

As for illustrations, if in stories and short stories they are not of decisive importance (the best are by I. Semyonova), then in “Dunno” ONLY the illustrations of Alexey Laptev are recognized by experts (“The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” and “Dunno in the Sunny City”) and Heinrich Valk (“Dunno on the Moon”). Color pictures by A. Borisenko (not to be confused with A. Borisov!), stylized as Valka, in the latest deluxe edition of Bibliopolis, are also good. (These are quite expensive books, but if you have the money, you should take them.) Colored and gift books are good, but still, Laptev’s very first black and white drawings fit so wonderfully into the fabric of the narrative that, although all subsequent illustrators danced from Laptev , we haven’t come up with anything better.

Publishers and illustrators, like wizards and like many ordinary people, are divided into good and evil. Everyone, for example, knows the illustrations for “The Wizard of the Emerald City” by L. Vladimirsky, without which this book would not be interesting to read. But I have seen editions of this book with some ugly monsters in the style of “black” pop art. I also happened to see on store shelves the old and new books of “Dunno” in such a version that I shied away from them like a horse from a buzzing train. I have somewhere a collection of Nosov’s stories in a shiny modern cover with illustrations stylized for some reason to look modern. It’s very hard to see this, comrades. It’s the same as if you did the same thing with Tom Sawyer, for example. Imagine that someone will pick up this book by Nosov, written in the 30s and stylized as the 80s, in about a hundred years... And then, to put it mildly, he will be bewildered.

The three stories included in the first volume of the collected works of N. Nosov are, how can I say, of a production nature. In the best sense of the word. In “The Cheerful Family” (1949), Kolya (the narrator) and Mishka make an incubator and try to hatch chickens from eggs. “The Diary of Kolya Sinitsyn” (1950) is about how guys raise bees during the holidays. “Vitya Maleev at school and at home” (1951) is also, one might say, a “production” story, since studying for a schoolchild is the same as production. And it is also written on behalf of the narrator (Viti Maleev). In addition to studying at school, the guys in this story are training a puppy.

Everything that the guys do in Nosov’s stories is described not “from fifth to tenth,” but in detail, sensibly, with arrangement, with knowledge of the matter. Probably, the author was helped by the knowledge he gained while working at the educational film studio. The “production theme” is convenient for the author in that there is no need to come up with any special, intricate plot: the characters and circumstances themselves are strung together with the story of the creation of a homemade incubator or apiary. In addition, this is a reliable defense against ideological censorship, which accused Nosov of the “vacuity” of some of his stories. The censorship really didn’t like the fact that Nosov, in some incomprehensible way, while publishing in record numbers, avoided concretely expressing his civic position in relation to the ruling regime.

Based on Nosov's scripts, plays were staged in theaters and animated and feature films were shot. In total, nine films based on Nosov were staged during his lifetime; I myself clearly remember only three: “The Adventures of Tolya Klyukvin” (1964), “Dreamers” (1965) and “Friend” (1966). These good pictures are sometimes shown on TV. Other boxes of tapes are apparently so far away and high up years ago that the editors are reluctant to climb onto the shelf and raise dust. But Nosov’s books definitely don’t collect dust; they are republished from generation to generation, read and reread.

Boris KARLOV, April 1996, newspaper “Five Corners”

MATERIALS ON THE TOPIC

Briefly about interesting things.

Do you know who invented Dunno? I am sure that you will answer like this: well, of course, the wonderful Russian writer Nikolai Nosov!
After all, Dunno is one of the shorties living in the Flower City!
Well, that's what you answered? If yes, then you made a mistake.
Do you know why? Because in fact, it was invented by the Canadian writer and artist Palmer Cox back in the mid-19th century, in whose comics this hero first appeared.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these tales were very popular. Their heroes were little elves (they were also called “brownies”), forest men with funny names Murzilka, Chumilka-Vedun, Hare Lip, Dedko-Borodach and others who traveled around the world. Murzilka himself, according to the plot of the fairy tale, constantly found himself in some funny stories.

But after the 1917 revolution, the book was no longer published, and everyone forgot about this hero. Almost forgotten, because Murzilka appeared again in 1924. He looked then, however, completely different - the boy turned into a red mongrel dog. His friends also changed - now they were pioneers, Octobrists, as well as their parents.

The children's magazine of the same name told about the adventures of the new Murzilka, drawings for which were made by artist Konstantin Rotov.

Soon other characters began to appear in this magazine - the mischievous aunt Yabeda-Koryabeda, the talking cat Shunka, Soroka-Balabolka, Sportlendik and Ladybug...
All these characters became the “leaders” of the main sections of the magazine - funny and entertaining stories, curiosity questions, a sports page, stories about nature.
The fabulous Murzilka that we now know appeared only in July 1937 - it was invented and painted by the artist Aminadav Kanevsky.

But let's return to the story of Dunno.
They say that Nikolai Nosov first encountered the books of Anna Khvolson in the early 50s.
The writer wanted to retell these tales in his own way. This is how the Flower Country was born, as well as its inhabitants - Dunno and his friends.

From Nosov’s memoirs we can learn that the idea of ​​creating “Dunno” was prompted by Anna Khvolson’s book “The Kingdom of Little Ones. The Adventures of Murzilka and the Forest Men" 1883 based on American comic books by Palmer Cox. (We won’t dig deeper, because we’ll get bogged down in Scandinavian mythology.) Let’s note right away that in Khvolson’s “Little Ones” there are many colorful characters, but few literary ideas. This book was subsequently republished several times (most recently in 1996). Nosov came up with his shorties because he had a lot of ideas, but not enough heroes.

“I was free to give these characters those character traits that were required by the plan. These little ones, whom I called shorties, were convenient in that I could not develop or deepen their characters, loading the narrative with unnecessary details, but provide them with separate features, reflecting one side of their character, which was quite consistent with their microscopicity and at the same time it sharpened, generalized the image, typified it.” — From a letter from N. N. Nosov to Yu. S. Pukhov.

In essence, Nosov has created a country, no, a whole planet of Lilliputians, in which the appearance of some Gulliver is categorically not envisaged, since large, normal people do not exist there in principle. The inhabitants of the country are called shorties; they are the size of a small cucumber. By gender, shorties are divided into babies and toddlers. Among the short ones there are wise bearded wizards, teaching professors and uncouth youths like Dunno. That is, these are, in fact, tiny adults with the character traits of a child.

The history of the creation of the trilogy about Dunno is extremely poor in facts. Its origins lie in the pre-revolutionary fairy tales of A. Khvolson about little forest men, well known to Nosov’s generation. It is in these simple educational stories about elves traveling around the world that we first meet a character named Dunno. However, from him the Nosovsky hero received only a name, but in character the Soviet Dunno strongly resembles another hero Khvolson - the braggart, liar and dandy Murzilka. Only if Nosov’s Dunno “wore a bright blue hat, yellow, canary-colored trousers and an orange shirt with a green tie,” then Murzilka was a dandy of his era - “wore a long coat or tailcoat, a tall black hat, boots with narrow toes, a cane and a glass in the eye." As a result, everything became completely confused - Dunno began to look like Murzilka, and Murzilka over time turned into a positive hero of a children's magazine, retaining only his name from the original source.

Probably, few people know that stories about the short people of the Flower City first began to be published in the Ukrainian children's magazine “Barvinok” in 1953, after Nosov met the editor Bogdan Chaly.

“We managed to publish several issues when Stalin died. I remember that a mourning portrait of the leader was printed on the cover of the magazine. Surprisingly, chapters of a funny fairy tale about Dunno appeared in the next issue. In 1954, the novel was published as a separate book with illustrations by the wonderful artist Alexei Laptev.”
(Igor Nosov, grandson of the writer)

As a result, Nosov’s cycle about shorties consisted of two stories (“The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” 1954, “Dunno in the Sunny City” 1958), one novel (“Dunno on the Moon”, 1964) and an adjacent short a fairy tale about Vintik, Shpuntik and the vacuum cleaner (in it Dunno is a minor character, famous only for the famous phrase that “why undress before going to bed if you put on your clothes again in the morning”).

One gets the feeling that when he started writing stories about Dunno, the author himself had no idea what short, witty stories about a narrow-minded and curious kid trying to master a wide variety of professions “on the fly” would develop into. The author noted that he copied many of the features of his hero while observing his little son, Petya. But it seems to me that Nikolai Nosov himself, who loved to wear wide-brimmed hats, was always eager for any endeavors and prone to fantasizing, also slyly peeked out from under the guise of Dunno.

- “So, because of a rhyme, you will invent all sorts of lies about me? - Znayka boiled.
“Of course,” answered Dunno. - Why should I make up the truth? There is no need to create the truth, it already exists.”

The peak of film adaptations of Nosov’s fairy tales, which quickly gained popularity among readers, occurred in the 60s and 70s. But, if the very first of these cartoons “Dunno Learns” and “Vintik and Shpuntik - Merry Masters” (“Soyuzmultfilm”; 1961 and 1960) were didactic in nature. Then a couple of puppet series “Dunno in the Sunny City” and “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” (“Screen”; 1971-1977) sometimes presented Dunno as an unrecognized artist, a misunderstood poet and a romantic dreamer, waiting for wizards and miracles. The children, in addition to philosophy, also wanted adventure. And the adventures, in the end, were not long in coming: to amuse the current child, new animated films appeared - “Dunno on the Moon” (“Russian Gold”; 1997) and “Dunno and Barrabass” (“National Film Center”; 2004 G.).

And Nikolai Nosov himself was born in 1908 into the family of an actor. He spent his childhood in the village of Irpen, not far from Kyiv, where the boy began his studies at the gymnasium.

After 1917, the gymnasium was reorganized into a seven-year school. After finishing it, he worked as a laborer at a concrete plant in Irpen, then at a brick plant in the city of Bucha. During these years I was constantly engaged in self-education. Art attracted him into its beautiful embrace from adolescence. At the age of nineteen he passed the exam at the Kiev Art Institute. In 1929 he transferred to the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography and until 1951 he worked in the field of cinema: director, producer of animated, scientific, and educational films. During the Great Patriotic War he directed military-technical films.

According to Nosov himself, he came to literature by accident: his son was born, and he had to tell him more and more fairy tales, funny stories for him and his preschool friends... “Gradually I realized that writing for children is the best job. It requires a lot of knowledge, and not only literary knowledge, even more about the psychology of children. The main thing is love for them. And respect. I realized when my son was growing up that children need to be treated with the greatest and very warm respect,” said the author of the story “Vitya Maleev at school and at home,” when it was discussed in the creative association of children’s and youth writers of Moscow, and it came out it was published in the already mentioned 1957.

N.N. Nosov’s first story was “Entertainers” (1938). The first thin book was published in 1945. It was called “Knock-knock-knock”. This friendly and friendly knock was heard by both children and publishers: “Detgiz” published the next book a year later - a collection of short stories “Steps”.

Knowledge of child psychology and command of accessible and, at the same time, figurative language allowed us to gain lasting recognition among children and adults. Nosov introduced a new hero into children's literature - a naive and sensible, mischievous and inquisitive fidget, obsessed with a thirst for activity and constantly finding himself in unusual, often comical situations.

In 1949-50, the stories “The Cheerful Family” and “The Diary of Kolya Sinitsin” were published and became popular.

The story “Vitya Maleev at School and at Home,” published in 1951 and awarded the USSR State Prize in 1952, brought widespread fame to the children’s writer. In 1955, the film “Two Friends” was made based on the story.

And to this day, the trilogy about Dunno is a huge success among young readers - “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” (1953-1954), “Dunno in the Sunny City” (1958), “Dunno on the Moon” (1964-1965).

In 1957, one authoritative international magazine made a calculation - which of the Russian writers are most often translated into other languages. The result was a list in which children's writer Nikolai Nosov was third - after M. Gorky and A. Pushkin.

In 1961, the humorous short stories “The Adventures of Tolya Klyukvin” were published, where the author ridicules not only children’s shortcomings, but also the vices of adults. Respect for the child’s personality is a distinctive feature of Nosov’s prose. A movie was created based on the short stories.

In 1971, “The Tale of My Friend Igor” was published, written in the form of diary entries from the life of his grandfather and grandson.

Memories of family and childhood are reflected in the fictional memoir story “The Secret at the Bottom of the Well” (1977).