While many of us in the United States were captivated by "
The Cat in the Hat," many Russian-speaking children were busy reading "
The Telephone."
"I thought it was the funniest children's story that I had ever read," Walter Kolonosky said of his initial reading of the children's classic by Kornei Chukovsky. "Not only does Chukovsky rhyme like Seuss -- that is, in anapest -- but he also introduces a good measure of word play."
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©Vladimir Radunsky
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"Telephone" written by Kornei Chukovsky translated by Jamey Gambrell
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Kolonosky is a professor of Russian at Kansas State University's department of modern languages. He said the animal imagery and frequent frivolity are just a few things these two beloved children's authors have in common. Such similarities have prompted him to read Chukovsky and Seuss in a new light.