চৌকসের বেলুন

Dunno's Adventures #6

by Nikolay Nosov, Boris Kalaushin (Illustrator), Arun Som (Translator)

"Doono, who was a great reader, had read a lot of travel books. Often of an evening he would tell his friends about what he had read..."

Genres: Fiction, Russia, Classics, Childrens

16 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Nikolai(y) Nikolaevich Nosov (Russian: Николай Николаевич Носов,Николай Носов, Ukrainian: Микола Миколайович Носов; 23 November [O.S. 10 November] 1908, Kiev – 26 July 1976, Moscow) was a Soviet children's literature writer, the author of a number of humorous short stories, a school novel, and the popular trilogy of fairy tale novels about the adventures of Neznaika and his friends.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

The narrative focus of this sixth entry in the "Dunno" series - a character, Незнайка in the original Russian, who is so-named because he knows nothing - shifts a bit, leaving behind the story of its insouciant anti-hero's abortive attempts to master various disciplines, from music to poetry, and picking up the tale of Doono (Dunno's opposite, so named because he knows everything), and the rubber balloon he designs. Aided by his Mite housemates, Doono perseveres, despite the ridicule of some of the other residents of Flower Town, who don't believe that the balloon will ever fly, and by the end of the book, all stands ready for the great ascent...

Like the other entries in this series, which I picked up a few months ago at a rummage sale, How Doono Made a Balloon presents one chapter from the original Russian work, which seems to have been more of a children's novel. It is the first one of these picture-book adaptations that doesn't stand on its own, as a story, and cuts off the night before the ascent of Doono's balloon (presumably dealt with in the subsequent title, Preparations for the Ascent ). It is also the first to touch upon the gender dynamics of Nosov's miniature Mite society, with its sharp divisions between girl-Mites and boy-Mites, who (as is explained in the first entry in the series, The Mites of Flower Town ), have very little to do with one another. Here we see Dunno getting into a fight with his friend, Gunky, whom he accuses of being a girl, because he is playing jump-rope with two girl-Mites. I'll be curious to see if girl-Mites, who have been mostly absent from the story, appear again in the series, or if Nosov will concern himself solely with the boys.

Owing to their overt didacticism, and to a somewhat stilted text (perhaps a result of translation?), I can't say I have found Dunno's Adventures very appealing thus far, although I am interested in them, from a more academic standpoint, as examples of translated children's literature. The gender dynamic, now that I consider it - the relative absence of any female characters, and the insipidity of those female characters who do (very briefly) appear - is probably also a factor in my lack of appreciation. Still, the artwork by Boris Kalaushin is quite cute, in a stylized, vintage way, and I am glad for the opportunity to become acquainted with such an influential characters, in the history of Russian children's literature.

[Ranendu Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books are awesome. They are the books from my childhood days but yet I have not forgotten them.
Each of the book, their colors, their pictures and their characters portray a rather simple story in such a beautiful way that they become a symbol of the simplicity of of our childhood.
একটি অসাধারন বই এর সিরিজ। আমার ছোটোবেলার স্মৃতির একটা অংশ।

[Nilusha Abeysekara · Rating 2 out of 5]

වැඩ බැරි දාස ගැන කතා (6) - ගුවනේ පාවෙන බැලුමක් සෑදීමට දක්සපාල කල්පනා කළ හැටි

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once upon a time, in a town in fairyland, lived some people called the Mites. They were called the Mites because they were very tiny. The biggest of them was no bigger than a pine cone. Their town was very pretty. Around every house grew daisies, dandelions, and honeysuckle, and the streets were all named after flowers: Blue-bell Street, Daisy Lane, and Primrose Avenue. That is why the town was called Flower Town. It stood on the bank of a little brook. The Mites called it Cucumber River because so many cucumbers grew on its banks.

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

These series are great for children, especially if you have a chance to read it in the original language, as it is filled with great vocabulary and lots of hilarious moments for children; while challenging a child to think, be courageous to learn, be curious about life as a whole, not to give up. Nikolay Nosov is a great author to study Slavic culture and find much wisdom and many life lessons throughout the books.

[Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury · Rating 2 out of 5]

ছবিগুলো বেশ ভাল। গল্প ভাল লাগতেই যাচ্ছিল কিন্তু তার আগে অসম্পূর্ণ অবস্থায় শেষ হয়ে গেল। যেই সমস্ত বই নিজের কোনো এন্ডিং ছাড়া পরবর্তী বইগুলোর উপর নির্ভরশীল, আমার তেমন বই ভাল লাগে না।