Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky (1824-1870) was an outstanding Russian pedagogue and a writer o f delightful stories for children, whose works have been included in Russian literary readers for over a century.Ushinsky's interesting tales give children an insight into the world about them and lead them to compare, to draw conclusions and generally, to think. Children like them and remember them. As pedagogue and writer Ushinsky tried by means of his stories to inculcate in his readers a taste for worthwhile occupations, to develop their spirit of enquiry and lead them to the love of nature. He considered that "education, if directed towards human happiness, should not educate for happiness but be a preparation for the work of life.Drawings by Nikolai GrishinTranslated from the Russian by Eve Manning