From the Publishers
This book is one in a series of Russian readers forEnglish-speaking students brought out by RusskyYazyk Publishers for foreigners learning Russian eitherin class or on their own and wishing to acquaint themselves with works of classical Russian and Soviet literature in the original.
The story Seryozha, written by the well-known Sovietauthor Vera Panova, is extremely popular with Sovietreaders, and it has come out in numerous translationsabroad. The story is notable for its author's profoundunderstanding of a child's psychology and her deepinsight into his shaping consciousness and his perception of the world around him.
The language of the story, the effective colloquialRussian spoken by our contemporaries, provides excellent material for foreign students.
The text is unabridged. To help the readers, themore difficult turns of phrase are translated or explained in the Notes (they are marked with an asteriskin the text). The book is complete with a RussianEnglish Vocabulary, which includes all the words occurring in the story, the English translations beingof a strictly contextual nature.