It is no secret that there are thousands of Russian-speaking expats and residents living all over the world. Apart from numerous Russian communities, stores with traditional food items, bilingual schools, and children’s centers, some of the items is still a struggle to get. So, today we will speak about how and where you can purchase Russian children’s books for your babies, toddlers, and kids. It may also be a perfect gift for your family, relatives, and friends as the choice of the best stories for kids is incredibly vast.
We deliver Russian books for kids to the UK, if you require books to be delivered to the other country, please email us.
There are tons of Russian books, including interactive books for kids, but what are the best Russian kids’ books and how to choose the most suitable for your baby’s first library? In general, children who are read to from an early age do better when they get to school. Learning baby rhymes and very short stories for kids together will give them a flying start in life! These are the major benefits of reading to children, but there is certainly more to that.
If you’d like to know how reading affects your baby, when to start reading with kids, and how to read to toddlers, check this guideline.
But doing better in school is not the most important point among them all. Reading to a toddler is, indeed, the most incredible paid-off activity because it enhances your child’s language skills, develops all mother-tongue languages at once, improves imagination of creating new stories, characters, and even learns to dream. I can’t stress out more about the importance of reading, especially if you read aloud to toddlers.
Check the age-by-age guide to reading to your baby, including the benefits of reading to children and toddlers.
Choosing Russian children’s books is a very pleasant and interesting task. As a trilingual family, we have prepared for you an amazing selection of Russian baby books listed below that you can order today.
But also, we share with you our special baby’s first library in three different languages for different age groups. Check these options below and choose what your child needs now.
- Black and white books for newborns + FREE printables of black and white pictures for babies
- Best books for 1-year-olds
- Best books for 2-year-olds
- Russian children’s books (available on order today)
- Spanish children’s books
60+ Classic Russian Children’s Books You Should Read to Your Baby Today
It is important to note that all age groups are different and unique. So, when choosing a book, keep in mind a few things:
- How old is your baby?
- What does your routine look like?
- What does she like doing the most? Does she like listening to music, touching different textures and surfaces, or looking at pictures?
We have categorized the Russian books for your convenience below.
Important: we work hard to minimize the delivery cost and make it as available as possible for the Russian community all around the world, therefore, we prioritize paperback covers. According to our personal experience paperback covers are best suitable for toddlers and their parents for a few simple reasons:
- Easy to turn the pages
- Easy to store
- Ability to have more space for more books (we have got over 60 books stored in this tiny bookshelf that saves the room space massively)
- Don’t mind throwing it away
- Save money with the paperback
If your baby was recently born and is up to 6 months of age, we recommend checking this article with an amazing black & white book selection for infants.
1. Russian Book Series for kids by Korney Chukovsky | Серия детских русских книг Корнея Чуковского
Stories and tales by Korney Chukovsky are one of the most popular and beautiful literary works for children. Not one generation has grown up on these wonderful stories. It is a must-have series in every Russian-speaking or bi-/tri-lingual family.
The reason this author is so popular is that all his stories are based on rhyme, and this is exactly what your toddler needs. Rhymes and repetitive verses are the most essential part of children’s language development, this is how your child remembers new words and enhance his vocabulary. Rhymetime, rhyme stories, and nursery rhyme songs are crucial for your toddler’s daily life. I can’t stress more about how absolutely adorable it is to hear my two-and-a-half-years old son repeating the verses from Aybolit (Айболит), the Fly Tsokotukha (Муха-Цокотуха), Telephone (Телефон), and many others.
Айболит (Aybolit)
The tale Aybolit (Айболит) is one of the most famous and popular books in Korney Chukovsky’s Russian book series. This classic tale tells you about the doctor who treats, cures, and helps all the animals around the world. Your child will learn about animals living in different environments, such as woods or islands in Africa, and understands how to use thermometers.
This book helped us to learn a lot about the doctor’s job. Since then, all the doctors are called Aybolit. We also got an amazing medical kit for our toddler.
Тараканище (The cockroach)
Муха-Цокотуха (The Fly Tsokotukha)
Бармалей (Barmaley)
Федорино Горе (The Grief of Fedora)
Краденое Солнце (The Stolen Sun)
Путаница (Mishmash)
Мойдодыр (Moidodyr)
Телефон (Telephone)
Чудо-Дерево (The Magic Tree)
2. Russian Pop-up Book Series for kids | Русские книжки – панорамки
It is an absolutely gorgeous selection of Russian books, very short stories, and even encyclopedias for your babies, toddlers, and kids. The images and main characters in this book series pop up, plus, some of the children’s books have flaps too.
Important: please consider the age and character of your child. If he likes to tear the books, perhaps you may find it hard to keep this series in one piece. We have got one pop-up from birth, and some parts were slightly damaged. My child really liked to tuck all those pop-up images back in. I’d recommend pop-ups from the age of two.
If we talk about books with flaps, this attracts kids a lot and can be introduced from birth. It also develops coordination and touches.
POP UP энциклопедия. Живая планета. Моря и океаны : книжка-панорамка | POP UP Encyclopedia. Living planet. Seas and Oceans
With no doubt, this children’s encyclopedia is by far the best. I highly recommend getting it for your child’s first library. This book combines pop-up images and flaps and fills up so well the empty space.
The text is short and easy to understand. All the images are fantastic. I found the introduction video. See for yourself and order this book today!
POP-UP энциклопедия. Живая планета. Джунгли: книжка-панорамка | POP UP Encyclopedia. Living planet. Jungles
Another brilliant finding from the creators of “Malamalama”. In this book, your toddler will know all about the jungles, its animals, and the environment. It is absolutely fantastic idea to later create the stories with sea life, insects, wild and jungle animal toys.
Simple, cute and the most popular Russian Children’s POP-UP book collection
Три Поросенка (The Three Little Pigs)
Репка (The Turnip)
Тараканище (The cockroach)
Теремок (Teremok)
Телефон (Telephone)
Бармалей (Barmaley)
Цыпленок (The chicken)
Айболит (Aybolit)
Муха-Цокотуха (The Fly Tsokotukha)
Котенок Гав (The Kitten Woof)
Кто Где Живет (Who Lives Where)
Перед Сном (Before Bedtime)
3. Russian Book Series for kids by Grimm Brothers | Серия детских русских книг братьев Гримм
A classic selection of popular children’s book series by Grimm Brothers. These books are specifically thought for young children starting from the age of two. All books have absolutely gorgeous illustrations and a short text that doesn’t exceed 10% to 20% of the page and doesn’t let your child be bored.
Белоснежка (Snow White)
Бременские Музыканты (The Bremen Town Musicians)
Храбрый Портняжка (The Brave Little Tailor)
4. Book Series “We Start to Read” by I.V.Gurina | И.В. Гурина, Серия “Начинаем читать сами”
This book series is amazing for kids 0+. It has fabulous Russian-style modern images with our favorite animal characters, such as hedgehogs, crows, bears, rabbits, and many more.
Every story covers very interesting and unique topics, where your child learns lots of new vocabularies, such as how to build things, how to take photos, how to grow crops. Not to mention that every short story leaves your baby with a moral about helping each other and be friends.
Верные Друзья (Faithful Friends)
Отважный Капитан (Brave Captain)
Мишка-Воришка (Bear The Thief)
Грибная История (The Mushroom Story)
Рассказики (Little Tales)
5. Book Series “First Reading” by I.V.Gurina | И.В. Гурина, Серия “Первое Чтение”
This is another fabulous book series by the same author with a similar idea. It is also suitable for kids 0+. What I like the most about these two series is that they are paperbacks, so it is easy for your child to turn the pages and it won’t be so disappointing to throw the book away if it gets torn or damaged.
In this series, you will learn about:
- Friendship
- How to ask for permission
- Helping each other
Зайкин Урожай (The Rabit’s Harvest)
Миша – Фотограф (Bear The Photograph)
Клад (Treasure)
Заяц и Медвежонок (The Rabbit and Bear)
Ёжик и Птичка (The Hedgehog and Bird)
Наводнение (The Flood)
5. Enlightening series of Russian children’s books | Поучительная серия русских детских книжек
Волшебное слово | Magic Word
This Russian book tells you the story of how to ask for things nicely and what can happen if you take something without any permission. This is exactly the book where we learned our first magic word “Please”.
It is also a great book for adults to see the difference in adults’ and child’s understanding of things. Why our children sometimes take vengeance on us, why do they not listen to the word “no”? At the same time, how the child sees our word “no” and why he gets very upset thinking that he hasn’t been understood.
Кто вырастил ягодку | Who grew the berry
An amazing short story with absolutely gorgeous illustrations explaining to us the causation on how, why, and who grow for us plants, berries, fruits, and flowers.
This book has very detailed instructions on the back that help every parent to communicate with their child better when reading this book and make it fun.
Вот какие зверята | These are our animals
A very small book that is easy to hold for babies. It has a square shape that unfolds in many pages and introduces one animal on every page from both sides. A unique feature of this book is that you can put it vertically on the floor and play around with your animal toys while you are reading.
It also teaches about places where every animal lives, for example, my child learned such words like опушка, овраг и нора.
Задачки для ума для детей 1-2 лет (развиваем мышление) | Tasks for the mind for children 1-2 years old
An interesting set of very simple tasks that helps your toddler to develop thinking and have fun at the same time. He will be able to find similar objects, learn colors, match up things, and find the differences.
This series has tasks for every age:
Задачки для ума для детей 2-3 лет (Tasks for the mind for children 2-3)
Задачки для ума для детей 3-4 лет (Tasks for the mind for children 3-4)
Задачки для ума для детей 4-5 лет (Tasks for the mind for children 4-5)
Веселая Арифметика | Fun Math
This book is a jewel and I insist on having it at every home! When my son received this book on his second birthday, I instantly thought our grandfather knows very little about toddlers age 2. I was wrong! My child loves it with all his heart.
In this book, your child will learn:
- Numbers from 1 to 10 visiting every number at their homes and make associations of what this number could look like.
- The cutest lullaby I have ever heard, we sing it together every night. Also, we sort all the animals on the picture and connect with the song.
- Ordinal numbers and how important it is to do exercises.
- Reverse counting with all extra ten birds. My child learned all the names instantly. Also, this story is based on rhymes.
- At last, it contains some arithmetical exercises too.
Как ослик счастье искал | How the donkey was looking for the happiness
It is a very popular and old storybook telling your kids about happiness. What is happiness and how to find it are the two main challenges for the donkey and his friends – goat and sheep.
Это сделали не мы! | We didn’t do it!
An amazing story leaving your toddler with the moral of what can happen if somebody is not telling the truth. Also, it teaches about the importance of listening to your parents.
The only thing I do not particularly like is that the kids were left home alone, but I guess I will leave it up to every parent’s judgment.
6. Poems and fairy tales by S. Marshak (also recommended for traveling with kids) | Стихи и сказки С. Маршака
Great for traveling with kids
This is a golden collection of poems, rhymes, and tales written by one of the most popular children’s writers S. Marshak. This book is small in size and contains over hundred of stories including four seasons.
This is our favorite travel book due to its size and variety of content!
7. Russian folktale masterpieces and other stories | Русские народные шедевры и другие сказки
There is so much more to introduce, our book collection is endless that, unfortunately, we can’t get it all in one short post, but we add below our favorites.
To see the full list of more than 60 Russian children’s books, please sign up to receive the list and make your order today.
Русские Народные Сказки (Russian Folk Tales)
По Щучьему Веленью (By The Pike’s Will)
Сестрица Алёнушка и Братец Иванушка (The Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka)
Змей Горыныч и Василиса (Zmei Gorynych and Vasilisa)
Добрыня – Богатырь (Dobrynya – Bogatyr)
Жар-Птица (The Firebird)
Дядя Стёпа (The Uncle Styopa)
Кошкин Дом (The Cat’s House)
Любимая Мама (Beloved Mom)
Репка (The Turnip)
Теремок (Teremok)
Гуси Мои, Гуси! (Oh, Geese, My Geese!)
Колобок (Kolobok)
Курочка Ряба (Riaba The Hen)
Три Медведя (The Three Bears)
Сказка о Рыбаке и Рыбке (The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish)
Кот в Сапогах (Puss in Boots)
Три Поросенка (The Three Little Pigs)
Didn’t find the book in Russian you want to buy for your child or friend? E-mail us and we will find what you need or make your order through our Parenting Support Group.
Check our little project “ReadTogether” on IGTv and participate in the contest with us, or follow our stories on Facebook
Enjoy your time together reading with kids!
Do you have a more interesting book to offer? Share with us in the comments below!
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Also, check out:
- Best Books for 1-Year-Olds (12-24).
- 30+ Best Books for 2-Year-Olds and 3-year-olds (24-48).
- Black and White Baby Books: The 10 Best Books to Read to Baby in the First Year.
- The Importance of Reading to Your Child, Toddler, and Baby – Why?When?How?
- 13 Benefits of Reading to Children and Toddlers: Age-by-age Guide to Reading to Your Baby.
- 25+ Perfect Indoor Activities For Babies And Toddlers.
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On Mon, Nov 30, 2020 at 7:46 AM Gillian Cox
Hi Ana,
It is so exciting. The books you ordered for me arrived today… all 31 of them and they are all lovely. I am delighted! They will be a Christmas present for my grandson Sasha who will be 22 months old by Christmas. I couldn’t wait to start reading them and began practicing my very poor Russian reading them out aloud straight away. They will be very helpful for my understanding of the language as well as my grandson’s.
I really appreciated that they were soft cover books because it meant I could order more than if they were hard cover books. I will certainly be ordering more next year as he needs more books suitable for his age as time goes on.
I felt as though this was a practice run for me as I have never ordered books from Russia before and until I heard about you I didn’t know it was possible to order them myself. I am finding that russian language books available in Australia are just too expensive to buy so I am relieved that I can order more through you again.
Many thanks and happy Christmas.
Gillian Cox
Hi Gillian,
I am so happy for you! The parcel took some time, and it is always so worrying. But I am relieved and happy to hear that you have received all the books you requested. I can imagine how exciting it is for you, and no doubt by Christmas you will be able to read out some or all of the books to your grandson.
Thank you so much for your support and I look forward to picking more books for you soon!
Have a great week ahead!
Ana
Hi – just wanted to say thank you for the Russian books that I have ordered via your website earlier this year! Thank you for suggesting books for my-then-under 1 year old – It was definitely worth the wait and really helpful to get Russian books delivered to the UK!
Alyona, we are very happy to hear that and would definitely work on our delivery service. You are always very welcome to get back to us and we will customize your order with any other additional book materials for your child’s development! Have a great day!