Irina Leek

Zvezdy v pushistykh lapakh

Stars in fluffy paws Children‘s book. Stroki. Moscow 2022. 160 pages Illustrations by A. Kuznetsova Age 4+ and adults > astronomical wonders, other lifestyles, courage, friendship, adventure

A fairy-tale story about lunar marmotics – fluffy cute animals that look like marmots and live on the far side of the Moon in their own magical world.

The main character is the restless Little Flo, a real fearless and very cool Marmot girl. She has a mom, dad, two older brothers, a traveling grandmother, a stay-at-home grandfather and a neighbor Shlyopych, who always finds himself in a variety of comical situations. For example, Little Flo is sure that most of the craters are the work of the paws of Shlyopych, who every evening is going to dig a hole for himself, but gets tired very quickly or he just gets lazy, and he falls asleep in the dug hole. In his sleep, he tosses and turns, the hole becomes larger and larger, until by morning it turns into a real crater. But this, of course, is not all the miracles that happen on the far side of the Moon.

The seasons there can be switched with a switch, and if someone wants summer three times a week, this can easily be arranged. All emotions have smells: Marmotics sense whether someone smells happy, sad, or angry. Shooting stars not only fulfill wishes, but deliver them right to the Marmots’ doorstep – the main thing is not to miss the shooting stars and have time to place an order. Their wonderful world is surrounded by large and small stars, planets, comets and nebulae, similar to clouds of cotton candy. Marmotics hide from meteor showers under large umbrellas, and when they get bored or sad, they can always throw a ball to the constellation Canis Major.

When people cannot see the Moon during the day, lunar marmotics can move to the other side to take a warm bath in the craters, get ripened cheese from there, or go sledding. They also cannot see the Earth then, but they are very curious about who lives on it. So one day Little Flo, looking at the green-blue planet, noticed there a real human baby in blue pajamas. She wishes she could make friends with him...