There are certain vintage Polish Children’s books that I put into my Slavic Store and they vanish pretty quickly. I also observe great commotion when they are anywhere for sale off-line, and even on the Poland’s internet they can cost up to hundreds of zlotys. Which vintage editions of Polish classics am I talking about specifically?
Mind You: here I talk about Vintage Children Books from Poland from 1945 to 1990.
Vintage Polish Children Books with Jan Szancer’s illustrations
There are many, many great Polish illustrators of the past, but for some reason Jan Szancer is one of the most recollected by public.
If You ever want to buy some classic Polish fairytales for a friend, chances are they know from their childhood something like Andersen’s fairytales or Bajarka Opowiada with Jan Szancer’s illustrations. And while these are not strictly Polish fairytales, the classic pictures from fables of Little Mermaid or Three sisters are just rooted into our memory.
The other thing is – while some of Polish classic illustrators have experimental style that is not for everybody, I never heard of a person who don’t like, or at least respect, a distinctive style of Jan Szancer.
He also illustrated some of the most iconic Polish books like Pan Kleks – people search for this older editions to this day.
Alice in Wonderland with illustrations by Dusan Kallay
The 1986 edition of Alice in Wonderland is considered the best on the market – not only among books from Poland!
The illustrations by Slovak artist Dušan Kállay from 1981 received international acclaim, and Robert Stiller’s translation remains an undisputed classic to this day. You can find the gallery HERE.
Just compare it to modern-day editions and it’s language and visuals and… cry.
You can find more information on the University of Maryland website: https://exhibitions.lib.umd.edu/alice150/alice-in-wonderland/illustrated-alice/europe-eurasia/kallay
Old Editions of Russian Fairytales
Old Editions of Russian Fairytales are a thing on its own with illustrations by masters like Ivan Bilibin.
While they are often not available in certain country or in Russian anymore, You can still find it sometimes in Polish version – like this Alonushka, that made it’s way to my shop twice already:
https://www.etsy.com/pl/listing/1501737113/alonuszki-sowiaskie-opowieci-legendy
Vintage Polish Children Books: Jan Brzechwa’s Classics
The books itself are funny and quirky but with illustrations by masters like Bohdan Butenko or Jan Szancer they are a complete package in a way that modern editions lack. There are so many versions but for some reason the classic “Grzyby” is VERY popular, maybe for it’s peculiar style that brings to mind Grzybóg or Kraina Grzybów?
It is not easy to find it in Poland for sale anymore.
Old Pagan Legends of Poland by Anna świrszczyńska
When I started to be into old pagan legends of Poland and stories of King Krak, Popiel or Piast Kołodziej, I vaguely remembered them from my childhood. Now after running my Vintage Polish Children’s Book shop since 2023 I realize they were mostly by one person: Anna Świerszczyńska, who also came up with a book about Arkona Pagan temple.
Anyway – these are great gifts for anyone interested in Slavic Paganism or Polish History because there are not many new editions of these legends, and when they are, they are just ugly and often factually incorrect.
Koziołek Matołek and other old comics by Kornel Makuszyński
Everyone from my mum to mu boyfriend wants a copy in the house, and what people most often like are the old editions with a classic yellow-ish paper and faded colours.
The stories itself are very imaginative with Koziołek exploring China, the Moon, the seas etc. Kornel Makuszyński alo had a great comic book about queen Wendy, “Wanda leży w naszej ziemi”.
Vintage Polish Children Books: Bajarka Opowiada
I already mentioned Jan Szancer a couple of times. His mastery can be seen especially in Bajarka Opowiada, a book that is also a must for anyone interested in Slavic folklore.
With stories from around the world it explorers the themes from mass consciousness of people of Ukraine, Siberia, Finland and many, many other countries. You will get out of this journey with head full of new themes and discoveries around Folk Magic, Shamanism etc.
And don’t we all love some Shamanism?
