Merry Pictures
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Merry Pictures
| image_file =
| image_caption =
| editor = I. V. Antipenko
(since 2000)
| editor_title = Editor-in-Chief
| previous_editor = R. A. Varshamov
(1977-2000)
| circulation =
| country = USSR"Тираж 9 150 000 экз. ... Ежемесячный журнал. Издаётся с сентября 1956 года"
"Весёлые картинки", № 3 (379), март 1988. 3-я стр. обложки
Russia
| based = Moscow
| website =
| issn = 0320-8044
}}
Merry Pictures ({{langx|ru|Весёлые картинки|Vesyolye Kartinki}}) is a popular Soviet/Russian illustrated humorous magazine for young children.Весёлые картинки // Большая Советская Энциклопедия / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. Том 4. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1971
History
It has been published since September 1956. Its target audience is children of ages 4–11.Aleksey Ivliev, [https://www.ntv.ru/novosti/1665637/ Легендарные «Веселые картинки» отмечают 60-летие] // НТВ от 26 сентября 2016 (Legendary Merry Pictures Celebrate their 60th Anniversary)
It had the largest circulation among the children's publications in the Soviet Union, reaching 5.6 million copies monthly in 1971 and 9.5 million copies monthly in early 1980s.Дмитрий Данилов, Весёлое детство «Весёлых картинок», [http://www.veselyekartinki.ru/pages/nasha_istoriya excerpt online]Christine Gölz, [https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/450728.pdf Merry Pictures of the Little Folk: The Cartoon Magazine Veselye kartinki, or What’s Left of the Socialist “Children’s World”], Fioteknos, vol. 9, 2019, pp. 138-155, {{doi|10.23817/filotek.9-10}}
During the Soviet era, several well-known writers (including K. I. Chukovsky, A. L. Barto, S. Ya. Marshak) and famous artists (including A. Brey, A. Kanevsky, A. P. Sazonov and Yu. N. Uzbyakov) worked for the magazine.
In publishes verses, short stories and fairy tales, as well as board games, cartoons, rebuses, puzzles, etc. The magazine had several permanent columns ("How to learn to read", "How to learn to make toys yourself", etc.). The magazine also held an annual competition for the best children's drawing.
It has a group of recurring fantasy characters, the "{{ill|Merry Little Folks|ru|Весёлые человечки}} Club": Karandash ("Pencil", an artist), Samodelkin ("Do-It-Yourself"), Buratino, Cipollino, Neznayka, Thumbelina, Petrushka, and Gurvinek (Czhech puppet Hurvínek).
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.veselyekartinki.ru/ Magazine website]
- [http://journal-club.ru/?q=image/tid/100 Весёлые картинки], covers of all issues