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Eno Raud

Biography

Eno Raud (1928–1996), one of the best-known and most beloved children’s writers in Estonia, was born in Tartu to the family of writer Mart Raud and teacher Lea Nurkse. He studied Estonian language and literature at the University of Tartu and worked as an editor at the Estonian State Publishing House until becoming a full-time writer. He was married to Aino Pervik, another children's writer: they had three children, all of whom are also writers.

Raud penned more than 50 books of stories and poems over his lifetime. His most popular works include the story of a rag doll named Raggie and a four-part story about three slightly eccentric fellows: Halfshoe, Mossbeard, and Muff (Three Jolly Fellows). The author's works are considered classics not only in Estonia, but also in the other former Soviet countries. His children’s books have been translated into more than 30 languages, and are rich with fantasy and humour.

 

Raggie

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
2009, 112 pp
ISBN: 9789949449477
fiction, storybook

Raggie

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
1962, 49 pp
fiction, storybook

A casa do urso

Illustrator: Natalja Jaroš
Translator: G. Bogdanov
Raduga
1984, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Anu ja Sipsik

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Irja Typpö
Kansankulttuuri, Perioodika
1979, 40 pp
ISBN: 951615218X
fiction, storybook

Anu und Flickerl

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Helga Viira
Perioodika
1978, 40 pp
fiction, storybook

Bear’s House

Illustrator: Natalja Jaroš
Translator: Diana Miller
Raduga
1984, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Bocian a žaba

Illustrator: Ilmar Linnat
Translator: František Hattala
Perioodika
1979, 20 pp
fiction, storybook

Cats and Mice

Illustrator: Veera Staniševskaja
Translator: Ellen Sillamägi
Perioodika
1990, 31 pp
ISBN: 5797902370
fiction, storybook

Comme ceci ou comme cela

Illustrator: Lembit Roosa
Translator: Nina Lapina
Éditions la Frandole
1958, 16 pp
fiction, storybook

Cypliukas

Original title: Raggie
Language: Lithuanian
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Cecilija Unt
Vaga
1965, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Fikmik

Original title: Raggie
Language: Polish
Illustrator: Jullita Karwowska-Wnuczak
Translator: Bogdan Justynowicz
Krajowa Agencja wydawnicza
1976, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Flickerl

Original title: Raggie
Language: German
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Helga Viira
Perioodika
1968, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Jak zając hodował ryby

Illustrator: Hanna Krajnik
Translator: Bogdan Justynowicz
Krajowa Agencja wydawnicza
1976, 35 pp
fiction, storybook

Kabouter happie

Illustrator: Lilian Härm
Translator: Ivo Buyle
Perioodika
1988, 15 pp
ISBN: 9061744385
fiction, story in verse, fairy-tale, picturebook

Kalevipoeg

Eno Raud etc...

Original title: Kalev’s Son
Language: Finnish
Illustrator: Heldur Laretei
Translator: Anneli Nikiforova
Kansankulttuuri
1981, 104 pp
ISBN: 9516152651
fiction, storybook, folklore

Kalevipoegs

Original title: Kalev’s Son
Language: Latvian
Illustrator: Ants Viidalepp
Translator: Džuljeta Plakidis etc...
Latvijas valsts izdevnieciba
1964, 98 pp
fiction, storybook, folklore

Karhun talo

Illustrator: Siima Škop
Translator: Irja Typpö
Kansankulttuuri, Eesti Raamat
1975, 32 pp
fiction, storybook

Katz und Maus

Illustrator: Veera Staniševskaja
Translator: Helga Viira
Perioodika
1990, 32 pp
ISBN: 5797902389
fiction, storybook

Kissat ja hiiret

Illustrator: Veera Staniševskaja
Translator: Paul Raudsepp
Raud Publishing
1991, 31 pp
ISBN: 9529689004
fiction, storybook

Koty i myszy

Illustrator: Veera Staniševskaja
Translator: Teresa Kärmas
Perioodika
1989, 32 pp
ISBN: 5797902729
fiction, storybook

Kriksītis

Original title: Raggie
Language: Latvian
Illustrator: Zigurds Kampars
Translator: Džuljeta Plakidis
Liesma
1971, 46 pp
fiction, storybook

Lokio trobelė

Illustrator: Siima Škop
Translator: Stasys Skrodenis
Vaga
1974, 32 pp
fiction, storybook

Lāča māja

Illustrator: Maija Dragūne
Translator: Džuljeta Plakidis
Liesma
1982, 24 pp
fiction, storybook

Mohaszakall meg a többiek

Illustrator: Zsuzsa Stuiber
Translator: Katalin Rákos
Móra, Kárpáti
1979, 119 pp
ISBN: 9631117340
fiction, storybook, fairy-tale

Naksitralliši

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Tamāra Vilsone
Zvaigzne ABC
2010, 191 pp
ISBN: 9789984408132
fiction, fairy-tale

Naksitralliši

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Tamāra Vilsone
Sprīdītis
1990, 189 pp
ISBN: 5410001478
fiction, storybook

Niin vai näin

Illustrator: Lembit Roosa
Translator: Eino Kiuru
Karjalan ASNT:n Valtion Kustannusliike
1961, 14 pp
fiction, storybook

Näpsäkäävät

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Eva Lille
Otava
1986, 129 pp
ISBN: 9511084577
fiction, storybook, fairy-tale

Ostražitý čáp

Illustrator: Ilmar Linnat
Translator: Květuše Nováková
Perioodika
1980, 17 pp
fiction, storybook

Pabaldukai

Illustrator: Alge Varnaite
Translator: Vytautas Sirijos Gira etc...
Vaga
1998, 229 pp
ISBN: 541501280X
fiction, storybook, fairy-tale

Raggie

Original title: Raggie
Language: English
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Ursula Põks
Perioodika
1992, 95 pp
ISBN: 5797903679
fiction, storybook

Raggie

Original title: Raggie
Language: English
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Ursula Põks
Eesti Raamat
1969, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Reggi

Original title: Raggie
Language: German
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
LeiV
1994, 71 pp
ISBN: 392885634
fiction, storybook

Sipsik

Original title: Raggie
Language: Finnish
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Ulla-Liisa Heino
Eesti Raamat
1969, 49 pp
fiction, storybook

The Christmas Dwarf

Illustrator: Lilian Härm
Translator: A. Uljas
Perioodika
1987, 14 pp
fiction, story in verse, fairy-tale, picturebook

The Haughty Egg

Original title: The Haughty Egg
Language: English
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Evi Mannermaa
Perioodika
1982, 41 pp
fiction, storybook

The Watchful Stork

Illustrator: Ilmar Linnat
Translator: Evi Mannermaa
Perioodika
1983, 16 pp
fiction, storybook

Tre muntre karer

Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: F. Kristensen
Perioodika
1980, 91 pp
fiction, storybook, fairy-tale

Айынын ейи

Illustrator: Siima Škop
Translator: Jagmõr Pirgulõjev
Magaryf
1978, 32 pp
fiction, storybook

Аша сау аша

Illustrator: Gheorghe Vrabie
Картя Молодовеняскэ
1962, 20 pp
fiction, storybook

Карантыш

Original title: Raggie
Illustrator: Jaugen Kulik
Translator: J. Kurto
Mastatskaja Literatura
1974, 30 pp
fiction, storybook

Коротыш

Original title: Raggie
Language: Russian
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Tatjana Teppe
Eesti Raamat
1969, 49 pp
fiction, storybook

Котките и мишките

Illustrator: Veera Staniševskaja
Translator: Mare Zaneva etc...
Otetšestvo, Perioodika
1990, 32 pp
ISBN: 5797903172
fiction, storybook

Сiпсик

Original title: Raggie
Language: Ukrainian
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Alevtina Sprogis
Veselka
1969, 63 pp
fiction, storybook

Сипсик

Original title: Raggie
Language: Russian
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Gennadi Muravin
Tammerraamat
2010, 111 pp
ISBN: 9789949449682
fiction, storybook

Сипсик

Original title: Raggie
Language: Russian
Illustrator: Edgar Valter
Translator: Tatjana Teppe
Eesti Raamat
1972, 64 pp
fiction, storybook

Сипсик

Original title: Raggie
Language: Russian
Illustrator: German Ogorodnikov
Translator: Gennadi Muravin
Rosmen
2013, 48 pp
ISBN: 9785353064237
fiction, storybook

Сипсик

Original title: Raggie
Translator: Latofat Kentšajeva
Maorif
1982, 48 pp
fiction, storybook

Так цi так

Дзяржаунае выдавецтва БССР
1960, 17 pp
fiction, storybook

The Moon Shaped Pumpkin

Illustrator: Jelena Kolli
Translator: Mihhail Jasnov
KPD Kirjastus
2011, 36 pp
ISBN: 9985899793
fiction, poetry
1996
Karl Eduard Sööt Children’s Poetry Award (posthumously) (A Fish Takes a Walk)

1987

Estonian State Prize (Three Jolly Fellows. 1–4)

1980

Annual J. Smuul Award for Literature (Three Jolly Fellows. 1)

1978

Honored Writer of the Estonian SSR
1974 IBBY Honour List (Three Jolly Fellows. 1)

1970

Annual Prize of Literature of the Estonian SSR (The Inquisitive Film Camera, A Story with Flying Saucers)
All-Union Children’s and Youth Literature Competition, 1st prize (A Light in a Darkened City)
The works of Estonia’s most famed and translated children’s author, Eno Raud (1928–1996), are exceptionally rich and diverse. He has written poetry and prose for children of very different ages, has used different genres – from folk-humor prose through novels, and additionally has made popular folklore adaptations for children – thus familiarizing young readers with the hero of Estonia’s national epic Kalevipoeg (1961), Saaremaa’s Suur Tõll (1959), as well as Kaval-Ants ja Vanapagan (1959).

Although most of Eno Raud’s works were published during the Soviet period, he has managed to keep his writings free of politics. The events of Raud’s books often take place in a fantasy world, outside of a particular era. Yet even in his realistic books for children and youth, Raud was able to avoid leaning towards the "socialist realism" favored by communist ideology. Incidentally, the same quality is characteristic of several Estonian children’s writers that wrote at the same time as Raud – Jaan Rannap, Ellen Niit, Aino Pervik, Leelo Tungla, etc.

Raud’s most popular book is undoubtedly Sipsik (Raggie, 1962; followed by Anu ja Sipsik (Anu and Raggie), 1970). It is the heartfelt tale of five-year-old girl Anu, whose older brother Mart crafts for her a rag doll with striped pants for her birthday. Raggie indeed doesn’t come out looking especially pretty, but it has a soul – the boy stitched the doll together with such great love – and becomes Anu’s and Mart’s faithful playmate. The book is characterized by a beautiful balance between fantasy and reality – to a child reader, it seems that the doll truly is alive and its brother and sister do send it to appear on television or go to the Moon during their games. An adult reader grasps, however, that Raggie emerges thanks to the children’s lively imaginations. As of today, the Raggie stories have become a classic of Estonian children’s literature, with which many generations of readers have grown up. Naturally, Raggie’s popularity has also been helped along by artist Edgar Valter’s vivid drawing. Raggie has been translated into 12 languages.

Eno Raud’s second successful work is a series about three jolly fellows (Naksitrallid, Three Jolly Fellows 1-2, 1972 and 1975; Jälle need Naksitrallid, Three Jolly Fellows 3-4, 1979 and 1982). The books, amount to novels and are meant for readers aged 8+, tell of the friendship shared by three little men: Muff, Halfshoe, and Mossbeard. The men dream of journeying to the sea, which they indeed never reach. Instead, they end up having crazy and unbelievable adventures. However, although the works are fantasy novels, the attributes surrounding the three little men are quite present-day – so, for example, the trio roams around in a small red station wagon, which has modern cooking equipment: one especially cool device is a water-heating spiral that can vaporize an entire lake in just a few seconds! Raud has simultaneously been able to capture universal types of people within the three men – a romantic poet, a green hippie, and an adventurer with a quarrelsome temper (again illustrated by Edgar Valter). Nature preservation is a motif spanning the stories – the trio’s adventures are indeed very exciting, but it becomes clear to the reader that no matter how many modern-day comforts might surround us, we still depend upon nature. In addition, there must be a balance in nature, which one must not ruin. The first part of the "Jolly Fellows" series was included in the 1974 IBBY Honour List, and likewise received an annual Estonian award for children’s literature.

The main trend in Eno Raud’s works is his exceptional ability to speak to a reader about important things, while doing it in a way that a 5- to 6-year-old reader understands him. He is able of doing this via instructive children’s stories – in the way as he does in the collection Nii või naa (This Way or That, 1957) and Mõru kook (Bitter Cake, 1959); but he can also implement a fantasy world, where – similarly to Hans Christian Andersen’s works – items that originate from daily life start to act (Konn ja ekskavaator, The Frog and the Excavator, 1961).

Many of Raud’s storybooks for small children are written in a folk style close to parables, or even folk-humor. Yet even in these works, stepping up alongside the traditional animal heroes such as cats/mice/bears/rabbits/foxes are such more modern opposite pairs as a tractor and a horse, a cow and a milk truck, a helicopter and a windmill. With the help of these characters, the writer helps explain the rules and laws of the surrounding world to readers. In these stories, the writer is just and instructive: good triumphs and bad gets just what it is due.

Although Eno Raud wrote stories both for little boys (Väike autoraamat, Little Car Book, 1974) and for little girls (Triin ja päike, Triin and the Sun, 1971), his works are universal by their essence: children of various ages as well as their parents will find something that speaks to them in Raud’s books. In the Estonian context, it is important to add that Eno Raud was also a masterful children’s poetry writer, who gladdened readers with his plays on words and textual tricks.

With his realistic children’s stories, Raud appears before the reader as an author with a completely different signature. The dilogy Roostevaba mõõk (The Un-rusted Sword, 1957) and „Sõjakirves on välja kaevatud” (The Battle-Axe is Unearthed, 1959) has become a classic of Estonian boy’s stories that can be compared to Hungarian writer Ferenc Molnár’s book The Paul Street Boys. The book Märgutuled Padalaiul (Beacons on Padalaid Isle) is about a group of city children that end up on a lone island on their own and their efforts to get by, which are spiced up by some unusual events. In the three stories of the book Lugu lendavate taldrikutega (A Story with Flying Saucers, 1973), the children search for signs of an extraterrestrial civilization, telepathy, etc.; however, always end up (perhaps to some readers’ disappointment?) finding a solution that satisfies ordinary thought. One must admit that the adventure stories aimed primarily towards boys aged 10+, in which friendship, helping out one another, and getting by in a difficult situation hold an important place, are also enjoyable for girls of the same age.

In summary, one may say that Eno Raud was a luminary of 20th-century Estonian children’s literature. Many of his books are very popular among Estonian children to this very day.

Ilona Martson

28.11.2012