Surskaya, V. S. Be Brave! (Iq'av guladi!). 1943. In Georgian. Wartime children’s agitation book

სურსკაია, ვ. ს. იყავ გულადი! / მთარგმნელი მ. ა. პატარიძე. პირველი ქართული გამოცემა.
თბილისი : ს.ს.რ.კ. სამხატვრო ფონდის საქართ. განყ. დ. წ. გ. გამომცემლობა, 1943. 8 გვერდი, ფერადი ილუსტრაციებით.
ნაბეჭდი გარეკანი. 15 სმ. ტირაჟი 3 000 ცალი.
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Surskaya, V. S. Be Brave! [Iq'av guladi!] / translated into Georgian by M. A. Pataridze. First Georgian edition.
Tbilisi : Publishing House of the Georgian Branch of the USSR Art Fund, 1943. 8 pp., color illustrations.
Original publisher's paper wrappers. 15 cm. Print run of 3,000 copies.
Condition good: wrappers show light natural age-toning; text block is firm, color illustrations are bright.

An exceedingly rare, fragile survival of wartime Soviet children's literature, published in Tbilisi at the height of the Great Patriotic War in 1943. This small, heavily illustrated pamphlet translates V. S. Surskaya's patriotic poem into Georgian, designed to instill courage, physical fitness, and a sense of duty in the youngest Soviet citizens. The narrative follows a timid boy who transforms into a brave, athletic youth aspiring to defend his motherland, inspired by the heroic image of a Soviet sailor. The vivid, poster-like lithographic illustrations perfectly capture the aesthetic of 1940s Soviet agitprop tailored for children. Issued by the Georgian branch of the USSR Art Fund in a modest print run of 3,000 copies during severe wartime paper shortages, such ephemeral children's booklets were overwhelmingly destroyed through use and are almost never encountered on the antiquarian market today. An exceptional and highly collectible artifact of World War II cultural mobilization in the Caucasus.