You'll Fall in Love with Vitya's Shadowy Adventures - A Timeless Tale for All Ages

You can't help but adore Sofia Prokofyeva's heartwarming and instructive stories? Her scripts have been adapted into many beloved animated films, such as

1963 'The Tracker'

1968 'The Biggest Friend'

1969 'The Great Cold'

1973 'The Clock with a Cuckoo'

1974 'The Green Pill'

1976 'The Tale of Greediness'

1977 'The Button and the Cloud'

1978 'Masha is No Longer a Slacker'

1978 'My Friend the Traffic Light'

1984 'The Apprentice of the Magician'

1985 'Island of the Captains 1'

1985 'Island of the Captains 2'

1987 'Magic Bells'

One of my favorite works, which I and my kids have grown to love, is 'The Amazing Adventures of a Boy Without a Shadow and a Shadow Without a Boy'. I recently picked up a copy of this classic tale, and I'm so glad I did!

The first edition was released way back in 1962 and hasn't been reprinted for a very long time. I bought our copy from Wildberries, and it was a great value for money.

So, let's take a look at the packaging.

The book itself is very well done, with a solid cover and paper, high-quality printing, and a well-chosen font. All of this allows you to enjoy re-reading it not just once, but multiple times, not just for adults, but even for children themselves. Even the book's endpapers are very nicely done.

the endpaper designNow, let's move on to the content.

Annotation.

A spoiled brat named Vitya Vetyakin, a troublemaker and daydreamer, didn't like the old oak tree that grew in his yard and cast a shadow over him. One day, when Vetyakin got angry, he swung his axe at the tree... and suddenly lost his own shadow!

From that moment on, Vitya and his shadow began their amazing adventures.

Who among us didn't play with their own shadow in childhood? Trying to run away from it, jump over it, or hide from it? I think many of us did. And how wonderful it is to hide in the shade of a sprawling oak tree and take a break on a hot summer day. But it wasn't meant to be...

I've got to say, I've never seen a kid like Vitya Vyetkin. He's a chess whiz, but his behavior is so bad, it's like he's trying to scare off his own shadow. His shadow, for some reason, is actually embarrassed by his behavior and decides to teach him a lesson.

But this feisty kid doesn't want to let his shadow go, and he even ties it to the bedframe. The shadow manages to escape, and Vitya, not catching up, thinks he can just do without it. However, when the sun starts beating down, he realizes it's scorching hot, and to his horror, he sees that not a single object – not even a cloud or an umbrella – is casting a shadow on him.

He's so miserable that even a glass of soda without syrup can't save the situation. He's so red that people are afraid he's sick.

By the way, kids might wonder what this soda without syrup is that costs just a penny.He really wants to cool down just a bit.

The search for his shadow continues at the zoo, where it's hiding.

There's also a point about honesty here. Vitya's shadow really wants to eat, but Vitya himself isn't hungry at all."No way!" the shadow thought resolutely. "I'm not going to stoop to shadow theft. Of course, no one will notice, but the customer's shadow will go hungry. They'll see right away that someone's swiped the shadow off the bun. No way!"

The shadow swallowed hard and continued on its way.

It even got to the point where they were trading shadows. The monkey's shadow was following Vitya everywhere, causing all sorts of trouble.The monkey, however, had no idea what to do with Vitya's shadow.

But you can read all about their adventures in the book. It's definitely worth buying.

I've got to give a shout-out to the illustrations in this book.

From my perspective, they do a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the time period in which the book was written. The little details and attributes of the era are really well-represented.

This book is also published by "Clouds" press, and the illustrations in it are actually from a 1962 edition. But to be honest, I think they're not as crisp as the ones in this book.

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