INSIDE THE RAINBOW IS THE ART BOOK OF THE YEAR

 

THE EVENING STANDARD

The first of its kind to appear in English, this anthology of stories for children by artists, illustrators and poets working in the Soviet Union between 1920 and 1935 is a thing of rare beauty and interest. 

 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Sumptuously produced…  here are astonishing feats of graphic art. 

Flicking through the pages on your own is a delight, but doing it with a child is extraordinary. I have rarely seen my son respond to images with such enthusiasm….These Twenties children’s illustrations are a monument to a period of Soviet history when things might have turned out differently…. It is curiously moving that, after almost a century, they have been published again and can once more inspire children to think for themselves.

 THE GUARDIAN

The designer and the writer of an essay in the book, have produced something truly remarkable…..Inside the Rainbow is an extraordinary compilation, a treasure-house, a monument to the free imagination and to a brief time when the avant garde and the playful were one and the same. Philip Pullman

THE FINANCIAL TIMES (FT WEEKEND)

How to mould and inspire human beings fit for this wonderful new world was a challenge for artists and educators alike….Many of the works produced during this time, and assembled in Inside the Rainbow, show how superbly they rose to the challenge, in what became known as the golden age of children’s literature in Russia. Marina Lewycka, 

QUENTIN BLAKE

It’s an extraordinary achievement…..It really is a great work.