Kharms, Daniil - "Igra" Russian Book for Children

Published in Leningrad by Giz, 1930. Original color lithographed wrappers, 12 pages, illustrated by Vladimir Mikhailovich Kosnashevich.

A rare children´s book by the great Russian absurdist poet and playwright Daniil Kharms (1905-1942). With the banning of this adult work and that of other members of the avant-garde group Oberiu (Association for Real Art), Kharms (born Daniil Luvachev) and other members of the group turned to children´s books as a refuge for work and a means to channel their creative imaginations. 

Igra is one of Kharms´ most child-friendly poems. Here, three little boys run around their town, pretending to be modern forms of transportation: Petka is an automobile, Vasa a boat, and Mishka, a Soviet airplane. 

V. M. Kosnashevich proved that he was a master in drawing the body language of children in his loose, spirited line drawings for this work. Kharms soon fell out with the Soviet authorities, was initially exiled and later charged with treason. He died in the psychiatric ward of the Leningrad Prison. OCLC locates 4 holdings of this book worldwide (Columbia, Princeton, Amherst and Univ. of Chicago).