★ Rights sold to China!
★ This book has been awarded the 2015 Best Book Certificate by the jury of the Leningrad Children’s Reading Club!
★ Created by Mikhail Bychkov, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) “World’s Best Illustrator” honoree, and a recipient of the Gold Medal for Book Illustration from the Union of Russian Artists!
★ Childhood is not a stage of life—it is a whole world. Surikov captures its voice in words, while Bychkov brings its light and shadow to life through color.
★ This book is the perfect medium for aesthetic education and emotional development! The rich natural details and everyday scenes in the illustrations inspire observation skills and empathy.
★ This book is a homeland that adults—whether they were once children or are still becoming them—can return to at any time.

Ivan Surikov’s poetry is typically profound and weighty, yet his “Childhood” paints a world of childhood that is remarkably pure and joyful—a world that captures the sights and stories of the Russian countryside, a way of life that is already on the verge of disappearing. To him, childhood is a fairy-tale realm, brimming with joy and the dreams of youth.
The renowned Russian artist Mikhail Bychkov brings the love and beauty of “Childhood” to young readers through exquisite, heartwarming illustrations. With astonishing artistic insight, he transforms the fleeting sensory memories evoked in the poem—the thickness of snowflakes, the shape of rising smoke, the howling winter wind, the deep bond between grandparents and grandchildren—into a tangible visual language. Using oil-painting-like thick brushstrokes alongside delicate watercolor light and shadow, he creates a “childhood homeland” that feels both vividly real and dreamlike.

[Author] Mikhail Bychkov
One of Russia's most outstanding contemporary illustrators and artists, renowned for his exquisite artwork, particularly his remarkable contributions to book illustration. He is a recipient of numerous prestigious national and international awards!
He has participated multiple times in the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava (BIB) and has served as the chairman of the IBBY jury for the St. Petersburg section of the BIB International Biennial of Children's Illustration in Bratislava for over a decade!
His works are regularly exhibited in museums and libraries and are preserved in Russian museums such as the Dostoevsky Museum and the Tolstoy Museum, as well as in other Russian museums and private collections, and in collections abroad.
In 2020, the renowned Russian documentary filmmaker Evgeny Gorinkin produced the documentary "Return to Childhood," which focuses on creators of children's books, with Mikhail Bychkov as one of the key figures!
In 2021, Mikhail Bychkov was awarded the Gold Medal—the highest honor for artistic achievement in book illustration—by the Union of Artists of Russia!
In 2020 and 2021, he was nominated as a candidate for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an award in the field of children's literature that is considered on par with the Hans Christian Andersen Award!
From April 12 to May 20, 2023, the exhibition "Mikhail Bychkov: Illustrations and Books" was grandly held at the Russian State Children's Library, featuring several top Russian artists, including Igor Oleynikov, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration!

Mikhail Bychkov was born in 1951 and graduated in 1969 from the Secondary Art School affiliated with the I.E. Repin Academy of Arts. From 1970 to 1973, he studied in the mural painting studio of the I.E. Repin Academy of Arts under Professor A.A. Mylnikov. In 1975, he graduated from the Book Graphics Department of the Leningrad Branch of the Moscow Polygraph Institute. Since 1982, he has been a member of the Union of Artists of Russia. Since 2011, he has served as the chairman of the IBBY jury for the St. Petersburg section of the BIB International Biennial of Children's Illustration in Bratislava.
Bychkov's illustrative style is typically characterized by its meticulous attention to detail and vivid expressiveness, bringing the plots and characters in texts to life for readers. Having grown up reading classic works, he approaches creating illustrations for them with both reverence and trepidation, producing page after page of artistic masterpieces. Before creating his works, he not only carefully reads the original texts but also studies the historical and cultural context of the literary works, delving into even the smallest details before picking up his brush. Bychkov respects tradition while daring to innovate; his illustrations are delicate, refined, and beautiful. The timeless exotic charm in his oil paintings seems to leap off the canvas, perfectly blending art with literature. This not only enriches readers' sensory experience but also deepens their understanding of the emotional, cultural, and historical contexts of literary works, greatly influencing how readers grasp and feel about these works as a whole. Mikhail Bychkov is committed to creating illustrations that have literary value. He believes that in children's books, the artist's task is to create a world of kindness, love, and confidence, to showcase the beauty of the material world created by human hands, and to foster children's love of books, as well as their admiration for beauty and the diversity of nature.

Bychkov's work is not limited to book illustration; he has also participated in numerous art projects and exhibitions, theatrical productions, museum exhibitions, educational programs, and various cultural and artistic activities. His artistic style and techniques have received widespread acclaim and recognition both domestically and internationally, making significant contributions to contemporary Russian art. Several of his works, including "Diving • Rescue Dog • Shark," "The Sea," "Childhood," and "The Silver-Hoofed Goat," have already been licensed for publication in China!

[Awards and Honors]
1997—Silver Medal for Illustration at the Moscow International Book Fair!
2002—Honorary Certificate from the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)!
2002—Included in IBBY's list of the world's best illustrators!
2003—Awarded the "Book of the Year" prize at the All-Russian "Illustrator Writer Competition"!
2004—Awarded the Annual Book Prize by the Russian Publishers Association!
2004—Awarded the Honorary Medal at the 2nd Independent Graphic Biennial in St. Petersburg!
2005—Awarded an Honorary Certificate by the Russian Academy of Arts!
2006—Winner of the "Best Book of the Year" competition by the Russian Publishers Association!
2006—First Prize in the International Art Competition for Books among CIS Countries!
2008—Awarded the Literature and Arts Prize by the Government of St. Petersburg!
2013—First Prize in the "Image of the Book" category ("Best Illustration for Children and Adolescents") at the Russian International Competition for Illustration and Book Design!
2013—Awarded the Certificate for the Best Book of the Year by the Jury of the Leningrad Children's Reading Club!
2014—Awarded the Marshak Literary Prize—“Artist of the Decade”!
2015—Awarded the Certificate for the Best Book of the Year by the Jury of the Leningrad Children's Reading Club!
2015—Grandly honored by the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Art!
2016—Awarded the Certificate for the Best Book of the Year by the Jury of the Leningrad Children's Reading Club!
2020—Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award—one of the world's largest awards in children's and青少年literature!
2021—Awarded the Gold Medal for Artistic Achievement in Book Illustration by the Union of Artists of Russia!
2022—Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award—an award in children's literature considered on par with the Hans Christian Andersen Award!