24.04.2010

On May 22, 2010 in Moscow at the Seasons design-“subbotnik”, which took place with the support of Barclays Bank, a mini-presentation was held for one of the most eloquent and significant books of classical English children’s literature, “The General”. The book’s authors, Michael Foreman and Janet Charters, had the book published almost 50 years ago.

The presentation was given in the format of an improvised interactive theatrical performance of the book by Arseny Epelbaum and Olga Zeyger. These young directors are famous for their “Highly Artistic Entertainment for Highly Artistic Children” work.

Michael Foreman is one of the most highly-awarded children’s illustrators of Great Britain. It was he who thought up the story for The General, for which his classmate Janet Charters wrote the text.

The authors grew up in wartime England, which was constantly being bombed; they themselves lived through and experienced the whole nightmare of war. This put them in an ideal position to think up the book, which celebrates nature and peaceful life, not their destruction. The book has always been rated highly by readers due to its positive interpretation of the building of responsible society, with an accent on pacifism - this all attracted the attention of readers. Such themes are also timely today. In the past, the main idea of the book has been the promotion of a peaceful way of life. Nowadays, one can add to that a more modern aspect: the need to take care of the natural environment.

The book was first published in England in 1961. In June, the publishing house Mir Detsva Media with the support of Barclays Bank will present the book for the first time to Russian readers. 50% of the proceeds from sales of the book are to go to the UNICEF Children’s Fund.

Maria Ilyin, specialist on the Partner Support Program of UNICEF in the Russian Federation, said: “The partnership between the United Nations Children’s Fund and Barclays Bank has for several years been helping thousands of children the whole world over. Last year 500 children in need received direct assistance from the Russian representative office of UNICEF thanks to cooperation with the bank. And we are only too glad that our partnership is growing.”

Victoria Ponomoryova, manager of the public relations department of Barclays Bank, said: “We began working with the Russian representative office of UNICEF a year ago, when the World Master Card was first released. The bank pays a portion of the income received on transactions made with the card to the Russian representative office of the Children’s Fund of the UN. The book The General represents another small way we have helped children in need in both Moscow and St. Petersburg.”

The story in The General can be easily understood by even the youngest of readers: The general, who wanted to become the most outstanding general in the world, sought order, and always prepared his soldiers for war, but, due to certain circumstances, winds up alone in a forest. His coming into first-hand close contact with nature had a most serious effect upon him: After seeing the beauty of the flowers he fell out of love with war and started to love instead nature.

The book should be read not only by children but also by adults. It contains some of the most fundamental of values which, in the turmoil of modern fast-paced life, we at times sadly forget.