Brave Flower

"I have always wanted to fly… to wave my arms and take off. After all, it is such happiness — to wave my arms, to float in the sky and smile," wrote Roman Sef. Only children always dream of such... things. Adults quickly stop thinking about the impossible and forget many things: how fun it is to play with a sunbeam, that Santa Claus lives in every refrigerator, and that one should go fishing not for the fish, but to look around and turn one’s head.

However, there are rare individuals among adults who, growing up, continue to remain children at heart. Such was the poet Roman Sef. How else can one explain that he was interested in the very questions that little curious ones ask their parents every day: where did the shadow go? Why did spring come in spring? Why is the wind not cheerful?

The cloudless world of childhood for Roman Sef's poems was created by the artist Vera Khlebnkova. She filled each page with various small details, like children's "secrets" — water lilies and dragonflies, snowflakes and leaves, bees, frogs, and birds. Both the artist and the poet know well that it is precisely thanks to such details that childhood becomes happy. Contents:
Tick-tock
Tiger
Tick-tock
Mushroom
Fishing
Bunny
Draft
Wind
Clouds
Why did spring come in spring?
"The earth is far away..."
"Hello, wind..."
Pines
Willow
Sun
Poplar
Rain
Night
White hare
Santa Claus
Best of all
Spring
Rainbow
Picture
Moon and Sun
"The girl went out into the sky..."
Shadow
Who sleeps where
Evening

Jester
Jester
Brave Flower
Beads
Motor
Lights
With what?
Vase
Balcony
Serёzha
Elevator
Showcase
Kindness
Cones
Soap bubble
Magical forest
Books
Labor
Little sisters
Captain
Mom
Umbrellas
Bicycle
Piglet
Song
I made wings and flew!

Once
Swallows
Pike
Elephant
Polar bear
Soap
Dry cleaning
Iron
Code
Cat
Chocolate train
Once
"The kitten dreams..."
Frog
Rooster
Pincher and mutt
Dog
Fly
Old steam locomotive
Kitty
Butterfly and bee

Retellings from John Ciardi (from English)
About whom to put in a bag
About who sang among the pines
Sculptor
About how to catch fish
About who is very ill
About who spun

Retellings from Miroslav Valek (from Slovak)
Camel
Echo
Astronauts

Retellings from Spiro Çomore (from Albanian)
Sea
Cloud
Cotton
Lamb
Rose
Rona…
Swallow
Snow
Santa Claus
Sheep