Merry Pictures () is a popular Soviet/Russian illustrated humorous magazine for young children.Весёлые картинки // Большая Советская Энциклопедия / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. Том 4. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1971
History It has been published since September 1956. Its target audience is children of ages 4–11.Aleksey Ivliev, Легендарные «Веселые картинки» отмечают 60-летие // НТВ от 26 сентября 2016 (Legendary Merry Pictures Celebrate their 60th Anniversary)
It had the largest circulation among the children's publications in the Soviet Union, reaching 5.6 million copies monthly in 1971 and 9.5 million copies monthly in early 1980s.Дмитрий Данилов, Весёлое детство «Весёлых картинок», excerpt onlineChristine Gölz, Merry Pictures of the Little Folk: The Cartoon Magazine Veselye kartinki, or What’s Left of the Socialist “Children’s World”, Fioteknos, vol. 9, 2019, pp. 138-155,
During the Soviet era, several well-known writers (including K. I. Chukovsky, A. L. Barto, S. Ya. Marshak) and famous artists (including A. Brey, A. Kanevsky, A. P. Sazonov and Yu. N. Uzbyakov) worked for the magazine.
In publishes verses, short stories and fairy tales, as well as board games, cartoons, rebuses, puzzles, etc. The magazine had several permanent columns ("How to learn to read", "How to learn to make toys yourself", etc.). The magazine also held an annual competition for the best children's drawing.
It has a group of recurring fantasy characters, the " Club": Karandash ("Pencil", an artist), Samodelkin ("Do-It-Yourself"), Buratino, Cipollino, Neznayka, Thumbelina, Petrushka, and Gurvinek (Czhech puppet Hurvínek).
See also Murzilka
References
External links Magazine website Весёлые картинки, covers of all issues