On June 6, 2025, the chamber exhibition “Tolstoy for Children” opened at the cultural and exhibition center “L. N. T.” The event is timed to coincide with the birthday of the Yasnaya Polyana Estate Museum and its “L. N. T.” branch, celebrated on June 10.
The exhibition explores children’s literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with a focus on Tolstoy’s own works for children. Visitors will learn how Tolstoy created his famous ABC Book, short stories, and fables. He once dreamed that two generations of Russian children, “from tsars to peasants,” would learn from his ABC Book and receive their first poetic impressions from it.
Among the items on display are the 1890 lifetime edition of The New ABC Book preserved in the library of the Tolstoy House, the first edition of Childhood from 1852, children’s stories by Tolstoy, and ceramic figurines representing characters from his children’s works. A copy of a letter from Tolstoy to a distant relative, in which he describes working on the ABC Book, is also featured.
The second part of the exhibition introduces Tolstoy’s contemporaries who wrote for children and explores the themes they tackled. Historic children's magazines help illustrate this era for visitors.
The exhibition explores children’s literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with a focus on Tolstoy’s own works for children. Visitors will learn how Tolstoy created his famous ABC Book, short stories, and fables. He once dreamed that two generations of Russian children, “from tsars to peasants,” would learn from his ABC Book and receive their first poetic impressions from it.
Among the items on display are the 1890 lifetime edition of The New ABC Book preserved in the library of the Tolstoy House, the first edition of Childhood from 1852, children’s stories by Tolstoy, and ceramic figurines representing characters from his children’s works. A copy of a letter from Tolstoy to a distant relative, in which he describes working on the ABC Book, is also featured.
The second part of the exhibition introduces Tolstoy’s contemporaries who wrote for children and explores the themes they tackled. Historic children's magazines help illustrate this era for visitors.