Tolstoy Leo 
Childhood (Annotated) 

• All content is redone in a new style, with the author’s name and the title of the novel at the top.

• For a better glance, a small graphic is added at the beginning of each chapter.

• With a picture of Leo Tolstoy, a detailed biography of him is added.



Nikolenka Irtenev, ten years old, wakes up at seven a.m. on the third day following her birthday. Following the morning toilet, Nicholas and his brother Volodya are led by the teacher Karl Ivanych to welcome their mother, who is pouring tea in the living room, and her father, who is providing economic instructions to the clerk in his office. Nicholas adores and admires her parents, offering correct observations about them: ‘… in one grin is what is termed the beauty of the face: if the smile adds charm to the person, it is wonderful; if it does not change him, the face is ordinary; if it damages it, it is awful.’