Children's library of interests. How the first letter was written A shortened version of fairy tales about primitive people

October 3rd, 2008

Today let's talk about those fiction (and not so fictional books) that describe the life of ancient people. Of course, we know very roughly how they hunted, sewed clothes, escaped from predators... And I imagine, of course, not popular science literature, rather, relatively science fiction... but how interesting! :)

So, let's begin from the youngest readers .

For them, we can recommend the following:

4) Mitypov V. Baby Mammoth Fuf.
The action takes place in the ancient times of the Great Glaciation, when saber-toothed tigers and mammoths lived, and ancient people dressed in skins and lived in caves. This is a story-fairy tale about a primitive girl named Ola, who understands the language of animals, about her friends - a baby mammoth and a fawn.
“The story I’m about to tell you happened a long, long time ago. So long ago that it’s hard to imagine. Thousands of years have passed since then. At that time there lived a little mammoth named Fuf. Mom nicknamed him that because he always snorted with his proboscis: “F-fuf!” – it doesn’t matter whether he was angry or happy, laughing or whining. But wait, maybe you don’t know who a baby mammoth is? Then imagine a baby elephant dressed in a shaggy fur coat. This will be the baby mammoth. Fuf was as tall as a dining table, but don’t think that’s very tall. Not at all. After all, Fufina’s mother would barely fit even in the largest of your rooms. Well, now you already know who Fuf is, and you can start a story about him...”

5) Bakhrevsky V. Eyes of the Night.
This story is about a boy from an ancient tribe who dared to look into the Eyes of the Night - at the stars - and became the first boy in the tribe to receive a name. One day, the Eyes of the Night made friends with a baby mammoth who had escaped a fire, and called him his brother, the Strongest. But having somehow returned from a successful hunt to his native cave, the Eye of the Night found only a hole with tufts of wool at the bottom. The tribe killed his friend and brother for food. And then the boy left his tribe...

For older preschoolers and slightly older children “Astrel-Classics” published several absolutely wonderful books in the “Very Cool Book” series Luciano Malmusi , about a Neanderthal boy, with beautiful, fun illustrations. Just be careful: these books are a very loose stylization of “the life of Neanderthals.”

Next I present a classic story E. d'Hervilly"The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy", for senior preschool and primary school age. After reading this book, my 6-year-old daughter involved the entire kindergarten group in the game “live like ancient people” for two weeks :).

Like all children, a boy named Krek has fun, climbs trees, loves his family and knows what true friendship is. Perhaps the author of the book wanted to show that both in prehistoric and in modern times, the main thing is humanity. After all, the most amazing thing happens in the book. It began with a great misfortune when Krek did not keep an eye on the fire, and it went out. This was not forgiven - fire was the main thing in those days. He was much more valuable than the life of a little man - savvy, kind and sincere. Only chance helped Krek avoid death. Expelled from the tribe, he went into the forest with a stone ax in his hands and with the hope of defeating nature and staying alive.
An amazing thing happened the next day. Imagine the joy and amazement of Krek, who had already said goodbye to his past, when he saw his older brothers and... the elder of the tribe! They did not come to call the boy back to the cave. They had not yet brought food and clothing to make Krek’s journey easier. They didn't even come to say goodbye one last time. They just left the cave. Forever.

More for primary and secondary schoolchildren ethnographer Michelle Paver wrote a series "Chronicles of Dark Times", consisting of 6 books. We have published only two volumes so far: “Brother Wolf” and “Heart of the Wolf”.
The story told by the ethnographer and writer M. Paver takes the reader many thousands of years ago. In the first book, a giant bear appeared in the primeval Forest, inhabited by tribes of hunters, wolves and bison, spirits of trees and stones. It creeps up silently, like breathing, and destroys all living things in its path. The boy Torak and his guide, an orphaned wolf cub, are called upon to save the inhabitants of the Forest from inexorable evil.
In the second book, Torak must discover the truth in order to save the Forest and its inhabitants from mortal danger. Together with Torak, his girlfriend Renn and the Wolf, who have been following him for a long time, set off on the journey. Failures haunt them; they risk their lives more than once to escape from black shamans...
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The following books may be of interest children from 10 years old and onwards .

Someday I will review some absolutely fantastic works - gaps in the past, lost worlds, etc. For now, I present a fantastic story Sergei Mikhailov “Crack”, which can be easily read by children aged 12 and older. This is not so much about prehistoric people, but about you and me. How would we react if our late bus went... straight into the past?

A long time ago, in time immemorial, my dears, a primitive man lived in the world. He lived in a cave, could barely cover his body, could not read or write, and did not strive to do so. Just not to starve - that's all he needed. His name was Tegumai Bopsulai, which means “a man who is in no hurry to put his foot forward”; but for the sake of brevity, my dears, we will simply call him Tegumai. His wife's name was Teshumai Tevindrau, which means "woman who asks many questions"; but for brevity, my dears, we will simply call her Teshumai. Their little daughter was called Taffimai Metallumai, which means “a minx who needs to be punished”; but for the sake of brevity, my dears, we will simply call her Taffy. She was Mom and Dad's favorite and was punished much less often than she should have. As soon as Taffy learned to run, she began to accompany her dad everywhere. They did not return home to the cave until hunger drove them. Looking at them, Teshumai said:

- Where were you both that you got so dirty? Really, Tegumai, you are no better than Taffy.

Well, now listen!

One day Tegumai Bopsulai went through the swamp to the Vagai River to catch fish with a hook for dinner, Taffy also went with him. Tegumai had a wooden gaff with shark teeth on the end. Before Tegumai had time to catch a single fish, he accidentally broke it, hitting it hard on the bottom of the river. They were very, very far from home (and, of course, they took breakfast with them in a small bag), and Tegumai did not take a spare hook.

- Here's a fish for you! - said Tegumai. - You will have to spend half a day on repairs.

“And your big black gaff was left at home,” Taffy remarked. - Let me run into the cave and take it from my mother.

“It’s too far for your plump legs,” Tegumai replied. “Besides, you could fall into a swamp and drown.” We'll get by somehow.

He sat down, took out a leather bag with deer sinews, strips of leather, pieces of wax and resin, and began to repair the gaff. Taffy also sat down, dipped her feet in the water, rested her chin on her hand and thought. Then she said:

“Isn’t it true, dad, it’s a shame that you and I can’t write?” Otherwise we would have sent for a new hook.

“Perhaps,” answered Tegumai.

At this time a stranger passed by. He was from the Tevara tribe and did not understand the language that Tegumai spoke. Stopping on the shore, he smiled at little Taffy, since he also had a daughter at home. Tegumai pulled out a ball of deer sinew from his bag and began tying the gaff.

“Come here,” said Taffy. - Do you know where my mother lives?

The stranger (from the Tevara tribe) replied:

- Silly! - Taffy shouted and even stamped her foot.

A flock of large carp was just swimming along the river, which dad could not catch without a hook.

“Don’t disturb the adults,” said Tegumai. He was so busy with his repairs that he didn't even turn around.

“I want him to do what I want,” Taffy answered, “but he doesn’t want to understand.”

“Don’t bother me,” said Tegumai, twisting and tightening the deer sinews and holding their ends with his teeth.

The stranger (from the Tevara tribe) sat down on the grass, and Taffy showed him what daddy was doing. The stranger thought:

“Strange girl! She stomps her foot and makes faces at me. This is probably the daughter of that noble leader who is so great that he doesn’t even notice me.”

“I want you to go to my mother,” Taffy continued. “Your legs are longer than mine, and you won’t fall into the swamp.” You ask daddy's gaff with a black handle. It hangs over the fireplace.

“Strange, very strange girl! She waves her arms and shouts at me, but I don't understand what she's saying. However, I am afraid that this arrogant leader, a man who turns his back to others, will be angry if I don’t guess what she wants.”

He picked up a large piece of birch bark, rolled it into a tube and gave it to Taffy. By this he wanted to show, my dears, that his heart is pure, like white birch bark, and he will not cause harm. But Taffy didn't quite understand him correctly.

- ABOUT! - she exclaimed. -Are you asking where my mother lives? I can't write, but I can draw with something sharp. Give me the shark tooth from your necklace!

The stranger (from the Tevara tribe) did not answer, and Taffy herself extended her hand to his magnificent necklace of grains, shells and shark teeth.

A stranger (from the Tevara tribe) thought:

“Very, very strange girl! The shark tooth on my necklace is enchanted. I was always told that if anyone touched it without my permission, it would immediately swell or burst. But the girl did not swell or burst. And this important leader, a man who is busy with his own business, still does not notice me and does not seem to be afraid that the girl might swell or burst. I'll be more polite."

He gave Taffy a shark tooth, and she lay down on her tummy, raised her legs, like children do when they are about to draw while lying on the floor, and said:

- I'll draw you a nice picture. You can look over my shoulder, just don't push me. Here is dad fishing. It doesn't look like it, but mom will know because I drew a broken gaff. And here is another gaff with a black handle that he needs. It looked as if the gaff had hit him in the back. This is because the shark's tooth has come off and there is not enough bark. I want you to bring us a gaff, and I’ll draw a picture of me explaining this to you. It’s like my hair is standing on end, but that’s okay, it’s easier to draw this way. Now I will draw you. You are really beautiful, but I don’t know how to draw to make faces look beautiful, don’t be offended. Are you offended?

The stranger (from the Tevara tribe) smiled. He thought:

“There must be a big battle going on somewhere. This amazing girl, who took the enchanted shark tooth and did not swell or burst, tells me to call the great chief's tribe for help. And he is, without a doubt, a great leader, otherwise he would have noticed me.”

“Look,” said Taffy, busily drawing, or rather scratching. - This is you. You have your father's gaff in your hand, which you must bring. Now I will show you how to find your mother. You will walk and walk until you come to two trees (here are trees), then you will climb a mountain (here is a mountain), and then you will go down to a swamp where there are a lot of beavers. I don't know how to draw whole beavers, but I drew their heads; Yes, you will only see heads when you walk through the swamp. Just make sure you don't fail! Our cave is now behind the swamp. It's not as high as a mountain, but I can't draw anything small. My mother is sitting at the entrance. She is beautiful, she is the most beautiful of all mothers in the world; but she won't be offended that I painted her as a freak. She will be happy because I drew it. Just so you don't forget, I drew daddy's gaff near the entrance. He's actually in a cave. Just show your mom the picture and she will give it to you. I drew her holding out her arms; I know she will be glad to see you. Wasn't it a good picture? Do you understand everything or do I need to explain it to you again?

Here's what Taffy drew for him:

The stranger (from the Tevara tribe) looked at the drawing and nodded his head. He thought:

“If I do not bring the tribe of the great leader here to help, he will be killed by the enemies who are running with spears from all sides. Now I understand why the great leader pretends not to notice me: he is afraid that his enemies are hiding in the bushes and might see if he gives me an order. That's why he turned his back, and the smart and amazing girl, meanwhile, drew a terrible picture showing his predicament. I’ll go call him for help.”

He didn’t even ask Taffy for directions, but rushed like an arrow through the bushes with a piece of birch bark in his hand. Taffy was very pleased.

- What were you doing here, Taffy? - asked Tegumai.

He had already fixed the gaff and was gently rocking it back and forth.

- I arranged something, daddy! - said Taffy. - Don't question me. You'll soon find out for yourself. You'll be surprised, daddy! Promise me you'll be surprised.

“Okay,” Tegumai answered and went fishing.

A stranger (from the Tevara tribe, do you remember?) ran for a long time with the drawing until he accidentally found Teshumai Tevindrau at the entrance to the cave. She was talking to other primitive women who had come to her for a primitive breakfast. Taffy was very much like her mother; so the stranger (a real Tevara) smiled politely and gave Teshumai birch bark. He ran without stopping and was struggling to catch his breath, and his legs were scratched by thorns, but still he tried to be polite.

Seeing the drawing, Teshumai screamed loudly and rushed at the stranger. The other primitive women knocked him down and six of them sat on him, and Teshumai began to pull his hair.

“It's clear as day,” she said. “He stabbed my Tegumai with a spear and scared Taffy so much her hair stood on end.” Moreover, he also boasts and shows me a terrible picture where everything is drawn as it was. Look!

She showed the drawing to the primitive women, who were patiently sitting on a stranger.

“Here is my Tegumai with a broken arm.” The spear pierced his back. Here is a man aiming a spear. Here is another throwing a spear from a cave, and here is a bunch of people (these were Taffin's beavers, although they looked more like people than beavers) chasing Tegumai. Oh, horror!

- Horror! - the primitive women repeated and, to the surprise of the stranger, they smeared clay on his head and beat him, and called all the leaders and sorcerers of their tribe. They decided that they needed to cut off his head, but first he had to take them to the shore, where poor Taffy was hidden.

Meanwhile, the stranger (from the Tovar tribe) felt very unpleasant. The women glued his hair together with viscous clay; they rolled him back and forth over sharp stones; the six of them sat on it; they beat and beat him so that he could hardly breathe; and although he did not understand their language, he guessed that they were scolding him. Be that as it may, he did not say anything until the whole tribe had come running, and then he led everyone to the bank of the Vagai River. There Taffy wove wreaths of daisies, and Tegumai caught small carp with his repaired hook.

“You ran away soon,” said Taffy, “but why did you bring so many people?” Daddy, honey! Here's my surprise. Are you surprised? Yes?

“Very,” answered Tegumai, “but my fishing is gone for today.” After all, all our dear, glorious tribe is coming here, Taffy.

He wasn't wrong. Teshumai Tevindrau walked ahead of everyone with other women. They held tightly a stranger whose head was covered with clay. Behind them came senior and junior chiefs, assistant chiefs and warriors, armed from head to toe. Then the whole tribe performed, starting from the richest people and ending with the poor and slaves. They all jumped and screamed and scared all the fish away. Tegumai gave them a speech of thanks.

Teshumai Tevindraw ran up to Taffy and began to kiss and caress her, and the elder chief of the tribe grabbed Tegumai by the tuft of feathers on his head and began to shake him with all his might.

- Explain yourself! Explain yourself! Explain yourself! - shouted the entire Tegumai tribe.

- Let me go, leave my feathers! - Tegumai shouted. “Can’t a man break his hook so that all his fellow tribesmen don’t come running?” You are obnoxious people!

- It seems you didn’t even bring dad his black boat hook? - asked Taffy. -What are you doing with my stranger?

They beat him in twos, threes, and as many as ten, so that his eyes almost popped out of his head. He pointed breathlessly at Taffy.

“Where are the evil people who attacked you, child?” Teshumai asked Tevindrau.

“No one attacked,” said Tegumai. “All morning there was only an unfortunate man here, whom you now want to strangle.” Are you sane?

“He brought a terrible drawing,” answered the main leader. - In this picture you were pierced by spears.

“I gave him the drawing,” said the embarrassed Taffy.

- A minx who needs to be punished! You?!

“Dear Taffy, it seems we’ll get it,” dad said and hugged her with one arm. Under his protection, she immediately calmed down.

- Explain yourself! Explain yourself! Explain yourself! - exclaimed the main leader and jumped on one leg.

“I wanted the stranger to bring daddy’s gaff, so I drew this,” said Taffy. “There are no people with spears there.” I drew the gaff three times so as not to make a mistake. It’s not my fault that it seemed to hit daddy’s head: there was too little space on the birch bark. Mom says that there are evil people there, and these are my beavers. I drew them to show the path through the swamp. I drew my mother at the entrance to the cave; she rejoices that a dear stranger has come. And you are all stupid people! - Taffy finished. - He is good! Why did you cover his head with clay? Wash it now!

Everyone was silent for a long time. At last the chief chief burst into laughter; behind him a stranger (from the Tevara tribe) began to laugh; then Tegumai began to roll with laughter, and then the whole tribe began to laugh together. Only Teshumai Tevindrau and the other women did not laugh.

The main leader began to chant:

- Oh, the minx who needs to be punished! You have attacked a great invention.

- Don't know. “I just wanted daddy’s black gaff to be brought,” said Taffy.

- Doesn't matter. This is a great invention, and later people will call it writing. So far these are only drawings, and, as we saw today, drawings are not always clear. But the time will come, daughter of Tegumai, when we will learn the letters and be able to read and write. Then everyone will understand us. Let the women now wash the clay from the head of a stranger!

“I’ll be very glad that they understand,” said Taffy. “Now you all came with weapons, but no one brought daddy’s black hook.”

The main leader responded:

- Dear Taffy, next time you write a picture letter, send it with a person who speaks our language and can explain what it means. It’s okay for me, because I am the main leader, but you caused trouble for the rest of the tribe, and, as you can see, the stranger was very puzzled.

They accepted a stranger into their tribe because he was considerate and did not get angry because the women smeared clay on his head. But from that day until now (I think it is Taffy's fault) few little girls are willing to learn to read and write. Others prefer to draw pictures and play with their fathers, like Taffy.

In ancient times, an ancient people carved the story of Taffimai Metallumai on an old elephant tusk. If you read my fairy tale or have it read aloud to you, you will understand how it is depicted on the fang. This tusk was used to make a pipe that belonged to the Tegumaya tribe. The design was scratched with a nail or something sharp, and the scratches on top were covered with black paint; but all the dividing lines and the five small circles at the bottom were covered with red paint. At one end of the pipe hung a mesh of grains, shells and precious stones; then she broke away and got lost. There is only a scrap left that you see. Around the picture are so-called runic writings. If you ever learn to read them, you will learn a lot of new things.

A very, very long time ago there lived an ancient, primitive man. He lived hard, on the verge of despair and complete hopelessness. To the modern eye, the man had nothing at all. No reliable housing, no possibility of getting enough food. And the worst thing was that he did not have a real, human mind.

Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to call him a man, since ancient man did not have the set of characteristics of a modern man.

It is extremely difficult to say anything definite about ancient man. It was too long ago. There is no reliable evidence; almost all the facts are ambiguous.

No, you cannot write a scientific and strict theory about ancient man.

Unless... a fairy tale.

The good thing about the fairy tale is that you can easily introduce previously unknown images and formulate new definitions, without looking back at classical theories. That's why it's a fairy tale.

On the other hand, the fairy tale is built on logic, and iron logic, otherwise, that same hint, later known to all of us as an invaluable lesson, will not appear in it.

... So, the fairy tale quickly takes its toll...

... Centuries flew by in a string, like a single moment.

And many thousands of generations of ancient man succeeded each other in a fierce struggle. In the fight against the human world around us, a merciless and changeable world...

... It was the variability of the environment surrounding ancient man that was the main problem. Even winter, which inevitably replaced summer, was not so terrible, since it was known, albeit approximately, when it would happen and how long it would last. But the unexpected and long drought was immensely terrible.

The nutritious roots in the ground disappeared. Mammoths went into unknown distances. The stream was drying up, and there was no other way to find it - there was no map. Why are there maps, there’s almost nothing at all.

Here and there human families died a terrible death of starvation. It seemed that ancient man had nothing with which to break the deadly cycle of the elements. He has no powers commensurate with his evil nature...

But the ancient man had the most important thing at that time.

Our ancestor was brave, and he had love. The ancient man loved life, he loved fiercely, frantically. He also had a will - a will that was unbending in the fight against a ruthless and treacherous environment.

It turned out that this is not so small, even compared to the absence of a real human mind. We need to realize and remember this. Always!

In addition to courage and will, the ancient man also had powers of observation. He looked around with constant curiosity and noted a lot for himself.

The man loved to watch the bear. He respected the bear very much. The bear was big, brave and strong, so much so that it killed a roe deer with one blow, but could not eat it right away. The bear hid the remains of the roe deer in reserve.

But such a reserve as that of a bear could not be stored for a long time. It will go rotten, and jackals or all sorts of worms will find it by the smell and eat it.

The man also watched the chipmunk. The chipmunk is small, striped, and funny, but in the summer he sneaks all sorts of plant stuff into the hole and eats it all winter.

The man compared the formidable bear with an unsightly chipmunk and began to salt the meat and smoke it over the fire, and began to store it in a cool cave. I began to dry fruits and vegetables and store them in a dry cave.

And also, unlike the bear and chipmunk, ancient man was a herd animal. At first, each individual of the herd obtained food as best it could, but after the appearance of the cave reserve, the leader strictly ensured that each individual created a supply in accordance with its abilities and capabilities: someone caught, someone salted, smoked and dried, and someone put it in a cave and guarded it. So the herd turned into... a flock. A flock is already serious, it sounds proud, since there is already a division of labor there.

Along with the appearance of the cave reserve, a new problem appeared. After the stock has been collected, it must be preserved, and most importantly, at the right moment, divided among the flock with some degree of fairness and expediency. When solving this problem, ancient man developed the logistics of cave reserves and, consequently, in the division of labor of the pack, the labor roles of economic managers were formed. This is how the cave reserve turned into a social institution.

It is not known now, and it is unlikely to be known in the future, what the ancient man called his cave reserve and whether he called it at all. But we, modern people, need to call it something. So we will call it the Social Reserve Fund. Why is this so? Yes, because this is our fairy tale.

Summarizing all of the above, we can say with confidence that with the advent of the social reserve fund, primitive man was finally able to look confidently into the future. Man now has a reliable tool for countering environmental volatility.

...And then, howling especially furiously and, as it seemed to the ancient man, with mortal resentment, the fierce elements retreated for the first time. She retreated just one small step, but still, the man realized that even if just a little, just a little, but for the first time he won.

What a pity that the winner did not have the opportunity to record the fact of his victory and pass it on to his descendants. This was one of the greatest victories...

With the advent of the reserve fund, a new very important feature appeared in a person - a person began to try to look a little into the future. Previously, people did not even want to think about the future, since there was nothing good there, but only the fear of starvation. But now the person had a reserve fund, from which the person hoped to receive his share in the future, and this gave him a positive feeling of some kind of joy, and this was connected precisely with future events. Based on these feelings, the person began to assess not only the current situation, but also the future situation related to the use of the reserve fund in the future. This is how social emotions arose in ancient man.

Social emotions can be defined as the mental process of assessing and deciding about a person's current and future attitude towards the social reserve fund.

The process of formation of social emotion is, of course, complex and multifaceted. In a simplified form, it can be represented approximately like this. In the summer, working hard to prepare a reserve fund for the winter, the person became very tired. The elders limited his diet until the reserve fund was full. To make it easier to endure hardships, a person consoled himself by imagining how in winter he would lie in a cave near a warm fireplace, where firewood stored for the whole winter was burning, dried mammoth soup was being cooked over the fire, after a delicious meal he could wholeheartedly kiss his wife (husband) ...

In such and similar situations, a very slow but irreversible emergence of social emotions occurred.

Obtaining the desired share from the cave reserve was the motive for the process of interiorization, since in order to obtain an adequate share in the winter it was necessary to somehow justify one’s contribution to the cave reserve made in the summer.

Social emotions have been observed in their infancy even in animals.

So, in unfavorable years, the bear known to us finds and robs the reserve stock of the chipmunk, no less known to us, from which in winter the chipmunk, as a rule, dies. Prairie dogs, being absolute vegetarians, kill ground squirrels that compete with them when forming reserve reserves for the winter.

The process of formation of social emotions in a modern person does not require special education and is very resistant to the external influence of political instruments of suggestion. This explains, for example, the existence of such a previously poorly understood phenomenon as class instinct. Calling on poorly educated workers to resist bourgeois propaganda, relying on class instinct, the ardent Bolsheviks in fact, without knowing it, invited workers to rely on their social emotions. The social emotions of the workers, in turn, certainly differed from those of the bourgeoisie, since they stemmed from different attitudes towards the social reserve fund.

It is also necessary to point out the special importance of the process of synthesis of social emotions. Individual social emotions, by establishing stable connections between themselves, the social reserve fund and other third-party objects, can form emotional structures. The analysis of such structures should become one of the main methods of understanding social processes.

More on this another time.

In conclusion, one cannot help but say that the ancient primitive man accomplished a great feat, ensuring the preservation and continuation of his family. He accomplished this feat for us.

Will we be able to accomplish our feat? Will we give our descendants a reason to remember us with a kind word?

PS1. The concept of social emotion is a clarification of the concept of personal meaning introduced by A.N. Leontyev. The concept of emotional construction is a clarification of the concept of objective meaning, introduced by him.

PS2. The storyteller does not invent a fairy tale, but retells it from the words of his inner voice. The inner voice doesn’t care, it doesn’t owe anything to anyone, not even the storyteller. He rarely speaks, and is often silent. Therefore, the storyteller cannot give quick answers to comments, for which he asks kind people for forgiveness in advance.

Sooner or later, children wonder about the life of ancient people. Where did they live, what did they eat, what did they wear, how did they study, were there schools, what were their families like, and a whole avalanche of questions. It’s difficult for many adults to answer the hundred whys. If only because for this you need to be able to present it in an interesting and captivating way. And it’s not always possible to come up with some kind of adventure story on the spot so that you can keep the child’s attention at the proper level and for enough time. After all, it’s not enough to tell, you still need to have time to explain all sorts of historical details, awaken the imagination and somehow make you feel all the difficulties of those times. How to be? In such cases, I recommend reading the relevant books.

You can read about primitive children in a very fascinating way in books about ““, written by the Italian children's writer Luciano Malmusi. One cannot ignore the famous work “” by the French writer Roni the Elder. It’s true that it’s worth noting that Luciano Malmusi’s books are lighter and more modern, perfect for preschool children and elementary school students. “The Fight for Fire” is written more about primitive people in general and is definitely not suitable for preschoolers. Since there are entire articles about the books mentioned above on the pages of BiblioGuide, there is no point in talking about them in detail today. That's why I want to add to the list of books about primitive children a new and exciting book! It's called "Hey Becomes an Adult: A Historical Tale for Children."

This wonderful fairy tale was written by Ekaterina Gennadievna Boyarskikh. And the book was published by the publishing house “On Foot into History” in the series “Primitive World. It should be noted that for studying history, the products of this publishing house will be very useful. Therefore, I recommend it to children, parents and teachers. But let's return to our historical tale.

So, we talked about the fascinating book “Hey Becomes an Adult: A Historical Tale for Children.” The book is written easily. It's a pleasure to read. And this is that rare case when a book is suitable for both preschoolers and adults. A little bit of magic, after all, the genre of the work is a fairy tale. A bit of a detective story with chases. Light humor. And there is a lot of history, which is presented unobtrusively, excitingly and dynamically.

Who are the main characters? Mice-time travelers: brother Timka and his sister Tinka. They not only find themselves in the Stone Age and observe primitive children, they also take an active part in the events. And by the way, if they had not come to the aid of the boy Ey and his friends in time, then who knows, perhaps the children and the Bear would have died from the treachery of the primitive people of the Fox tribe. But everything worked out.

Boy Hey really wanted to become an adult, like modern children. It’s even surprising that so many centuries have passed, and boys and girls have changed little in their desires, quarrels and cockiness. Even the attitude towards adults is the same. Young readers will certainly love this fairy tale. After all, although it is written about primitive children of 7 years old, they are so similar to modern ones that one of the children can easily recognize themselves in them. This is very easy to verify. You just need to pick up a fairy tale and read it. I am sure that young readers will very well understand the feelings and actions of the main characters.

The book also talks about the very first artists. Their names, of course, have not been preserved, but from the book you can find out what primitive people drew and on what. And they had only three colors at their disposal. Yes, if only primitive children could see how many colors are available in modern art sets. On the other hand, if primitive people had not then come up with those very first paints of only three colors, then most likely we would not now see such a rich selection of colors in our stores. We wouldn’t even know words like paint or palette.

The book tells about legends, about the origin of cultures and life of different tribes. And again, these concepts are presented not as in a history textbook, but as if taken for granted, unobtrusively and very simply.

The question of making fire is also raised. You can’t help but understand how much we don’t appreciate in our modern age. For us this is a small thing. And for ancient people these were questions of life. And we should be grateful to them, because only through the centuries-old experience of our ancestors do we know what is poisonous, what is healthy, what is tasty, what is hot, what is cold, etc.

Of course, Ekaterina Boyarskikh’s fairy tale “Hey is becoming an adult: a historical fairy tale for children” is not just interesting, but also very useful. It fosters courage, responsibility, teaches empathy and immediately introduces its readers to the life of primitive people.

Personally, I didn’t even notice how time flew by while reading. I really wanted to know how Ey’s story ended, and whether he was able to convince his fellow tribesmen that he had become an adult. That's why I recommend a new book about primitive children with firm confidence in its benefits and effectiveness.

Bibliographic data:

Boyarskikh E.G. Hey becomes an adult: a historical tale for children. - M.: On foot into history, 2011. - 112 pp. - (Primitive world). - ISBN 978-5-905474-01-9

Happy reading!

This review presents six works of fiction for children from 6 years old about the era of primitive man and 1 encyclopedia about life in the Stone Age.

1) "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy"(6-10 years)

This amazing story will take the reader 25 thousand years ago. There is very little scientific data about that period, but thanks to the uncontrollable imagination of the author, the story is so reliable and convincing that the reader seems to see the boy Krek with his own eyes, participates in his adventures and sympathizes with him with all his heart. In the fight against hunger, cold, and dangers, Krek survived, and in the fight he became a man.

2) "Fight for the Fire" Joseph Roney the Elder(10-14 years old)

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The main characters of the dilogy are people from the Ulamr and Vakh tribes. In the first book, the Ulamr tribe has lost its fire and the main character Nao goes in search of fire to save his tribe and conquer the beautiful Gammla.
In the second book, Ulamr Un and Vah Zur, while traveling, enter into an alliance with a formidable predator - a cave lion. The narrative is captivating and makes you completely immerse yourself in the ancient era.

3) "The Cave Lion" Joseph Roney the Elder(10-14 years old)

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The novel "The Lion of the Cave", like the first novel of Joseph Roney-St.'s "prehistoric cycle" "The Fight for Fire", takes readers to the Stone Age, when primitive people were forced to fight for survival. The main character named Un from the Ulamr tribe, together with his friend Zur, goes in search of fertile lands where his tribe can hunt freely without knowing hunger. The author vividly and fascinatingly talks about their dangerous adventures, about the courage and bravery with which the friends go towards their goal.

4) "Primitive people" I. Nosyrev(6-10 years)

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Here is the first book in the popular science series “Stories about History”, in which the life of our distant ancestors is told simply, clearly and cheerfully. All the most important achievements of primitive man - the “taming” of fire, the domestication of animals, the ability to make tools, the development of agriculture - are shown as the story of one family, or rather a tribe of ancient people. The heroes of this book - the brave hunter Ukh, his wife Akh, little son Okh and their numerous relatives - bravely face all difficulties, deftly and wittily solve the riddles that the unfamiliar and mysterious world around them presents.

5) "Brother Wolf" by Michelle Paver(10-14 years old)

The story told by the ethnographer and writer M. Paver takes the reader many thousands of years ago. In the primeval Forest, inhabited by tribes of hunters, wolves and bison, spirits of trees and stones, a giant bear appeared. It creeps up silently, like breathing, and destroys all living things in its path. The boy Torak and his guide, an orphaned wolf cub, are called upon to save the inhabitants of the Forest from inexorable evil.

6) "Ram and Gau" S. Radzievskaya(10-14 years old)

This happened about a million years ago, when there were no planes, no railways, no cities on Earth. There were no people like you and me. The first people descended from monkeys roamed the forests. Scientists call them ape people. They led a difficult life, full of dangers, fought with wild animals, suffered from cold and often from hunger. This story tells a fascinating story about the life of ape people - the first stage of human development. The heroes of the book learn step by step not to be afraid of fire, to maintain and produce it by striking sparks from stone. Ape-people do not yet know how to speak, but in a number of their actions the first glimpses of humanity are already appearing. And this humanity - the first smile of primitive man, the first concern for the weak, gratitude for help - runs like a red thread through the entire book.

7) "We live in the Stone Age: an encyclopedia for children" by E. Zavershneva(6-12 years old)
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After reading the encyclopedia “We Live in the Stone Age,” children will learn a lot about the life of people in the Stone Age and about the science of archeology, which makes it possible to recreate in detail the life of our ancestors. The most interesting ethnographic data about the Pygmies, Bushmen and other tribes living in different parts of the world is collected here. In a fascinating way, the child learns the diversity of life and beliefs of ancient people and the ways of studying them by scientists of modern times. Quite serious material is illustrated with funny drawings with cute characters.

Bookshelves by age from 0 to 12+ can be viewed here