Today in Russia there is a flourishing of children’s and the youth literature: new publishing houses, literary awards, talented authors, writing communities and qualified specialists in the field of childhood book culture are emerging. Largely due to these positive processes, for the first time in the history of the International Council for Children’s Books (hereinafter – IBBY, established in 1953 under the auspices of UNESCO), Moscow became the venue for the 37th International Congress on Children’s Books. The Raising a Reader Association, with the participation of partners, prepared and implemented the Russia through the Prism of Children’s Books program of events, which was aimed at popularizing Russian children’s literature and presenting the Russian experience of supporting and promoting children’s reading to a wide audience.

Thanks to the project, the history and modernity of Russian children’s literature were presented at the 37th International Congress on Children’s Books in the reports of Russian researchers and experts in the field of children’s literature and reading, at the round tables “Studies of children’s literature in Russia and abroad – modern approaches” and ” World classics in the illustrations of contemporary artists”; at the exhibition sites – “The Best Books of Russian Publishing Houses”, “Creativity of Russian illustrators – winners of the Gold Medal of H. K. Andersen Tatyana Mavrina (1976) and Igor Oleinikov (2018)”; at master classes and meetings with contemporary authors of works for children and youth. As part of the project, a presentation of a special issue of the international magazine “Bookbird” dedicated to children’s literature in Russia was organized.

The project allowed the professional community to present Russian children’s literature as a phenomenon of world level and scale, and also contributed to the expansion of the participation of Russian libraries in the programs and projects of the International Council on Books for Children (IBBY).

Recordings of the broadcasts are posted on the YouTube channel of the Raising a Reader Association, in the playlist Russia Through the Prism of Children’s Books, as well as on the website of the same name http://russiadetlit.tilda.ws/.