House of Children's Books

of the Detskaia Literatura Publishing House founded in Moscow in 1950. Its aims are to promote the creation of juvenile literature on a scientific educational basis; to strengthen the creative ties of writers, artists, and publishing-house staffs with young readers, teachers, and librarians; and to help the family and the school to guide children’s reading. It is the task of the House of Children’s Books, as the creative laboratory of the Detskaia Literatura Publishing House, to study modern literature for juveniles, its history, and the interests of the readers (annually, the House of Children’s Books receives 20,000-30,000 letters from readers and organizations, including those abroad); to formulate guidelines for publishing books for children; and to popularize reading. The House of Children’s Books holds conferences on urgent problems of Soviet literature for juveniles and prepares for publication critical, bibliographical, and methodological works on children’s literature and reading problems. The House of Children’s Books mails out reviews and recommendations to agencies of public education, schools, and children’s libraries. It also participates in Children’s Book Week.

The House of Children’s Books has a library (more than 220,000 children’s books) that serves specialists in children’s literature; there is a division in Leningrad. The Moscow House of Children’s Books is a member of the International Board on Books for Young People.

In 1970, a House of Children’s Books was established in Georgia at the Nakaduli Publishing House. The Soviet House of Children’s Books has served as a model for the House of Literature and Art for Children and Young People in Bulgaria (in Sofia).