Russian Girl: Life in an Old Russian Town

by Russ Kendall

A colorful photographic essay, featuring maps, recipes, and a glossary, offers an enthralling view of the life of Olga Surikova, a nine-year-old girl in today's Russia, showing her working on a farm, going to school, meeting friends, and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction

40 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book outlines in a kid-appropriate way a factual account of Russian life. It's full of interesting facts and cultural information. It doesn't try to soften the facts or leave anything out either. My husband lived in the former Yugoslavia for a few years and thought it was an excellent representation of the culture and life of a Russian child.

Homeschoolers - I wouldn't complete a unit on Russia without reading this book. It even has the Cyrillic Alphabet with English phonetic sound equivalents, Russian words, recipes, and how to address people using their Russian names. It focuses on how important school is even to young children because it is seen as a way to better their lives. My kids loved it and were completely engrossed in the story.

[Sharese Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

For some reason, I could not get into this book, I mean I think it is good for students to know about other cultures but it was just something about this text that just did not click for me. The reason that I may did not like the text could be because I did not believe what I was reading or the pictures just were not that interesting.The book is basically about a little girl named Olga, the main character, and her family as they go about a regular day living in Russia.The book teaches the word Babushka, which means grandmother. In my own words the text is just a child's view on the factual account of her Russian life. The text is full of cultural and I am sure it will teach my students and show them how people live in Russia.

[Marina Minina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real book about a real life of Russian in a small town. Life in a Russian small town is very different from life in popular Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, that is why outsider readers could be surprised to see pictures with a poor family, old-fashioned school teachers and simple food at tables. The book tell the truth. Despite the action took place in 1994, it is still relevant. There is no changes in small towns. In small towns Russian can't still have the Internet. Can you imagine?
The book tells us how a nine-year-old girl spend her days in school, church, home and garden. The photos are very authentic and the text is very informative. There is even recipes for Russian traditional food - Pirog and Borch. It would be interesting for outsiders.