Svetlana Lavrova, "Where the cock horse rides": reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For many readers, Lavrova's story, and the author himself, have become a real discovery. In 2013, Svetlana Lavrova won the famous Kangaroo children's book competition. The winner was determined by internet voting. Many readers really fell in love with the author and in particular the story "Where the cock horse rides."

About the author

Svetlana Lavrova is a neurophysiologist by profession, candidate of medical sciences, and by vocation she is an amazingly talented children's writer. More than 40 books have already been written by her hand, many of which have been awarded prestigious children's literary awards. The popular writer lives in Yekaterinburg, thereby refuting the opinion that the farther the author lives from the capital, the less talented he is.

Summary

For those parents who still doubt whether to buy the book "Where the cock horse rides", a brief retelling will be most welcome. So, the book tells about a girl with a glorious Russian name Dasha, who lives in a smalltown, but her dreams, frankly, are global. Dasha wholeheartedly dreams of leaving her father's house and going to the metropolis, where she plans to become an outstanding writer. Dasha has not only bold dreams, but also a specific plan for their implementation. Wasting no time, she composes novels about vampires and, of course, about love. In an effort to add color to her book, Dasha includes characters from the world of folklore of the Komi people in the plot.

Mystically, one of the characters in her own book suddenly appears in front of Dasha - Pera the Bogatyr, who desperately asks the girl to help him. According to Pera the Bogatyr, the land of Komi is becoming empty, the inhabitants, gods and even the most ancient spirits are leaving it. The once huge and mysterious world of the myth of the ancestors is getting poorer, gradually turning into a small, uncomplicated fairy tale. A brave girl Dasha decides to help the hero and goes to save the mythological world in the company of folklore characters and aliens. In her story "Where the cock horse rides" Lavrova sends the heroes on a journey. It is full of extraordinary discoveries and adventures that, no doubt, will appeal not only to children, but also to their parents.

How is "… the cock horse" different from other books by S. Lavrova?

In general, we can say that the fantasy story has much in common with the author's previous works, but there are also a number of differences. On the one hand, the book is just as easy to read, provides an opportunity to laugh heartily, for which Lavrova, in fact, is loved by the public. The plot of the story is not inferior in itsfascination and variety of characters. On the other hand, a characteristic and new feature in Svetlana's work was the interweaving of mythological plots into the plot of the work, which are far from familiar to every child and even teenager. This fact cannot be called a disadvantage, because the description of the folklore and mythology of our country is very useful for young readers.

Lavrova's work against Hollywood's products

Today it is extremely difficult to surprise children with anything, because the West daily releases a new portion of its products, which they successfully swallow, forgetting about their own traditions and culture. Modern Russia is literally overwhelmed with books, films and games that came from Europe and America. A rare child today picks up a real book, preferring various kinds of computer games and gadgets to it. Of course, this is a big problem for all of us. Perhaps such a decline in domestic, especially children's, culture is due precisely to the fact that there are not so many truly high-quality products by Russian authors and they are poorly advertised. And against this background, the book “Where the cock horse jumps” appeared.

Svetlana Lavrova with her story seeks to instill in children an interest in their own culture, to interest young readers in folklore and mythology through a fascinating plot and bright characters. All this, flavored with humor and ease of reading, really carries you into an amazing, fantastic world. Feedback from readers testifies that thanks to this amazingbook, parents managed, albeit for a short time, to distract the child from the TV, to give him the pleasure of reading.

Features of book design

Even the design of the book "Where the cock horse rides" literally screams about the author's great love for his past and folk motives. Everything is here: both the font and the book illustrations - conducive to not letting go of the book. The stylization really worked out well. The beginning of each new chapter is accompanied by a colorful illustration, a small chapter title and a bookmark image make the book interesting not only for those children who already read on their own, but also for very young children who will have something to look at while their parents read the story aloud.

All readers of "Where the Rooster Horse Jumps" will undoubtedly be attracted by the outlandishly designed pagination and bizarre patterns that complete the chapter. At the end of the book, a small dictionary is presented, with all the names and titles encountered in the process of reading. According to numerous readers, this helps to penetrate even deeper into the magical world created by the author, to really feel the book. All in all, this masterpiece is an absolute pleasure to read. Both spiritual and aesthetic. Colorful pictures and an interesting plot will appeal to adults and children. The book will undoubtedly leave a strong impression in the soul and heart of everyone who reads it.

Educational fairy tale

That's what one of the readers called the book. The work is not only adventurous, "Where the cock horse gallops" also brings up love for one's own culture and ancient traditions. Through the prism of a fairy tale, Lavrova seeks to convey to children a simple truth: if they do not show interest in their history and national traditions, everything will be swallowed up by the Void, as happened in the book. There is also a hint to parents in the story, as many readers claim. The fact that it is the girl Dasha who goes to the rescue of mythological heroes means that the safety of our traditions lies on the shoulders of children who will carry love for the Motherland and its customs in their hearts. It is the future generation that can change everything.

Social tale?

Some especially attentive readers call the story "Where the cock horse rides" a "social fairy tale". Reviews are proof of this. Readers are sure that through Dasha's adventures, the author draws the attention of adults to the pressing social problems of modern society. Lavrova strives to remind us that it is extremely important not to forget about our native land, to remember our roots and history. In the pursuit of money, a career and everything else, we often forget about the truly significant values in life.

In the opinion of many, the fairy tale also demonstrates that in our country they have completely forgotten that it is necessary to revive villages and villages. Having concentrated all our lives in big cities, we have lost the value of that ancient culture that our grandparents, who lived in the countryside, had -where they always told fairy tales, embroidered and baked pies. Lavrova (“Where the cock horse rides”) encourages its adult readers to think, because it is not too late to revive the slowly dying traditions of our people. Despite the fact that all these "adult" thoughts are embedded in a children's book, it is sometimes useful for us to reflect on the fate of our culture, even through a simple, naive children's work.

Will there be a sequel?

As it became known quite recently, Svetlana Lavrova, having visited the Reading Together festival, which was held in Kortkeros, decided to write a new book, also based on Komi mythology. During his visit, the author made an interesting discovery for himself. It turns out that the village of Kortkeros is named after the iron man Kort-ayke from a local legend. According to the writer herself, she did not plan to write more books about the Komi after the publication of the story “Where the cock jumps …”, but then she realized that she simply could not stop there. Lavrova admitted that she feels at home in this area, and promised that she would soon release a new book. We can only wait patiently and hope that the new work of this author will be no less exciting and instructive.