This poem is about a funny mix-up that happened among the animals.The author Korney Chukovsky was a renowned Russian writer and poet, who, with more than 300 million copies of his books printed and translated into 90 languages, is one of the most published authors in the world. The illustrations are by the award-winning artist Franceska Yarbusova, the wife and collaborator of Yuri Norstein. Yarbusova was the co-creator of the animated films Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales, two films that were declared to be the Best Animated Films of All Time.
Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Russian: Корней Иванович Чуковский) was one of the most popular children's poets in the Russian language. His catchy rhythms, inventive rhymes and absurd characters have invited comparisons with the American children's author Dr. Seuss. Chukovsky's poems Tarakanishche ("The Monster Cockroach"), Krokodil ("The Crocodile"), Telefon ("The Telephone") and Moydodyr ("Wash-'em-Clean") have been favorites with many generations of Russophone children. Lines from his poems, in particular Telefon, have become universal catch-phrases in the Russian media and everyday conversation. He adapted the Doctor Dolittle stories into a book-length Russian poem as Doktor Aybolit ("Dr. Ow-It-Hurts"), and translated a substantial portion of the Mother Goose canon into Russian as Angliyskiye Narodnyye Pesenki ("English Folk Rhymes"). He was also an influential literary critic and essayist. (from: wikipedia)
Rhyming story translated from the Russian. A bunch of young animals decide to say different sounds rather than the ones they're supposed to. And then they started acting like each other -- fishes walking, toads flying, etc. A rabbit tries to get control, but no....
Then the foxes accidentally start a fire. Everyone comes together to fight the fire. And the animals return to their normal sounds and actions, just in time for bedtime.
It's like the author was on acid or in the land of bizarro.... From animals getting their voices mixed up to foxes playing with matches and setting the sea on fire...... Weird!!!!!!!!