Cock-the-Roach
Written by Kornei Chukovsky
Illustrated by Olga Pushkaryova.
Published by Progress Publishers, Moscow, in 1981.
Binding: Stapled card
Condition: VG+
A rare and beautiful edition of Korney Chukovsky’a poem Cock-the-Roach. First written in 1921. This edition published in 1981 and with the most memorable drawings by Olga Pushkaryova.
Chukovsky, who died in 1969, was one of the most popular children's poets in the Russian language, and his catchy rhythms, inventive rhymes and absurd characters have invited comparisons with the American children's author Dr. Seuss.
In this poem, the big bad cockroach is often regarded as satire on Joseph Stalin, on the brink of power when it was written, although Chukovsky might also have had Leon Trotsky in mind.