Description

This illustrated rebus children’s book was printed just weeks after the liberation of Yugoslavia on May 15^th1945 and is one of the first legally printed children’s books in Slovenia to promote the new Communist system. The illustrator Ive Šubic was an academic painter, schooled in Zagreb and Ljubljana. 

The text accompanied with small images presents children the situation in the country after the WW II. It starts with a story about refugees from Croatia, talks about the end of the war, the bravery of the Partisans, but mostly encourages little small children, so called Pioneers, to rebuild houses and the country, under the leaderships of Pioneer groups, joined under the command of the president Tito. 

The title Udarniki, comes from the Russian language and indicates, a highly productive worker in the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, and other communist countries. In this book it applies to children, as the youngest members of the society, who can attribute with rebuilding the country after the war. 

The illustrator Ive Šubic (1922-1989) was an academic painter, who was active during the WWII as illustrator of underground Partisan publications. After the WWII, he was one of the most prominent Yugoslavian artists, especially known for his mural paintings.