Picking up where How Doono Made a Balloon - the sixth entry in this Russian picture-book series about a tiny Mite named Dunno (Незнайка, meaning "don't know" in the original) - left off, Preparations for the Ascent (as its name implies) follows Dunno and his friends as they prepare for the launch of the rubber balloon and basket created by Doono (Dunno's opposite, so named because he does know). Once again ignoring the taunts of their fellow Flower Town residents, Doono and the rest of his housemates, including Dunno, prepare the balloon for flight, proving by the end of this tale that it can indeed ascend...

Like its immediate predecessor, Preparations for the Ascent is not a standalone title - all of these picture-books are chapters from the original, longer Незнайка story, but the first few are fairly complete, in their own right - and really needs to be read in conjunction with the other entries in the series. As a story, it lacks great interest - it's really an episode, not a story - and the text itself is rather stiff, perhaps owing to issues of translation. Despite now having read seven of these tales, I can't say I am a great fan, either of the character of Dunno, or of the fairy-tale world Nosov created. On the other hand, as someone interested in the history of children's literature in other parts of the world, I am glad to have an opportunity to read about this popular character from the Russian tradition, and I do think that the artwork has a kind of vintage charm. ( )