Continuation of the Primer's story...

With the introduction of new orthography in Russia in 1918, writing was significantly simplified—letters like "yat," "fita," and "decimal i" disappeared, and were now replaced by "E," "F," and "I," respectively.

Almost immediately after the reform, a new Primer was published—"The First Year of Education in Public School." This Primer had 304 pages and color illustrations, as well as exercises for learning cursive letters (very similar to modern handwriting guides). That same year, the illustrated "Alphabet" by Vladimir Konashevich was released. The story of how this Alphabet was created is quite interesting: the artist's family was unable to leave the Ural mountains, being cut off by Kolchak's army, so the artist sent his 4-year-old daughter pictures for each letter of the alphabet—plants, toys, all colored with watercolors. Later, on the advice of friends, Konashevich published these drawings, and thus the Alphabet was born.

In 1919, the "Military Primer" was released for Red Army soldiers, with words like "Red Army soldier," "commissariat," "commune," "communism." That same year, Vladimir Mayakovsky's "Soviet Alphabet" appeared, for which he wrote the epigrams and drew the illustrations himself. Mayakovsky primarily addressed his Alphabet to Red Army soldiers, so some of the humor was quite specific. He personally colored about 5,000 copies of the Alphabet after being denied the publication of the book.

In the early 20th century, Primers were mainly printed for adults. Many of them taught the basics of reading and writing based on political slogans of that time, with agitprop posters serving as illustrations ("We are not slaves—slaves are not us," "We bring freedom to the world," etc.). The main goal was to teach literacy to as many people as possible. Primers for children were also printed, such as "Pioneer. Children's Primer" by I. Sverchkov, published in 1924, which helped children navigate society through examples of life at factories, schools, families, and streets.

For teenagers living and working in villages, the Primer "Time to Work. Primer and First Book for Teaching Literacy to Teenagers" was published.

In 1937, Nikolai Golovin's Primer became the main literacy textbook in primary schools until 1945. "The whole country taught its children with Golovin's Primer," was a saying in the Soviet Union. Distinguished teacher Nikolai Golovin returned to the phonetic method of teaching reading and offered tasks progressing from simple to complex (syllabic reading, handwriting, short stories). The Primer contained many poems dedicated to Lenin and Stalin, with an obvious political undertone, and the illustrations were educational and didactic in nature.

One of the most successful was also the Primer by Alexandra Voskresenskaya, published in 1944. This Primer was reprinted 20 times. Initially, it was used in village schools, so the illustrations mainly depicted peaceful and happy rural life.

Sergei Redozubov's post-war Primer was reprinted for nine years, featuring scenes of peaceful labor and pioneer activities. Since the first edition of this Primer came out in 1945, it not only taught literacy and writing but also depicted peaceful life on a collective farm, harvest gathering, and other aspects of peaceful life, which was very important for children who had lived through the war. The Primer included many stories for reading and even adapted Russian fairy tales. However, it was not the easiest to master—there wasn't always a clear progression from simple concepts to more complex ones.

In 1958, Alexandra Voznesenskaya's Alphabet was published, with the famous stork on the cover—this Alphabet is probably familiar to most Soviet families. The Alphabet was published until the 1980s and featured many fun poems, pictures, and even instructions for parents.

In 1966, V. Goretsky's Primer appeared, witnessing major state changes. With each edition, portraits of leaders changed, and stories about the USSR and the friendship of peoples disappeared. This was also the first Primer that included handwriting practice, and the learning was structured in a playful form. Characters like Buratino, Neznaika, and Murzilka helped children learn, and the Primer also featured many fun poems, riddles, and puzzles.

Today, there are many versions of Primers, and in modern Primers, you can find the ideas of K. Ushinsky and L. Tolstoy, classic poems and texts alongside characters from modern cartoons. One of the most well-known is the Primer by the Buneevs, first printed in 2001 and still used in the school curriculum today; it is part of the educational program "School 2100."