Summary: The book "Latka" is about the life of a little girl and her dog. This is how Tanya received a gift from her uncle - he sent a dog from Leningrad! And not some kind of cur, but a Spanish breed. True, the dog is unsightly in appearance: the legs are short, the ears reach the floor, the tail is a stump, and on one eye there is a spot like a patch. But Tanya knows that she can't find a better friend! Clever Latka will find the lost shoe, and return from the hunt with prey, and lead the guys out of the forest if they get lost. The kind stories of Vitaly Bianchi will tell little readers about the friendship of a girl and a dog with great warmth. Let your child's acquaintance with this book be bright and memorable. And we, in turn, invite you to read this book with pictures on our website.
Latka
Hello!
Tanya was sitting on the porch - watching the sun slowly sink behind the lake covered with ice.
Suddenly a school teacher is walking, and an unfamiliar dog is running ahead of him.
Where is this from? Tanya didn't see them. Small in stature, on short legs, ears to the floor, tail with a stump. She herself is all white, and there are black spots on her back, and a spot on one eye, like a patch.
I saw Tanya - a march-march to her on the porch; sat down and gives a paw: hello, they say!
The teacher came up and laughed:
Look, you recognized the owner! After all, this dog is now yours, Tanya: I brought it from Leningrad from your uncle Petya. Spanish breed dog. Here is a letter to your mother.
Mother went out onto the porch, greeted the teacher and read.
"Dear sister! - Uncle Petya wrote. - I'm sending you a dog, don't be angry. There is no way I can keep her in the city: I live on the sixth floor, I myself have been at the factory all day - there is no one to take her out for a walk. And the dog is painfully good, learned, very thoroughbred, affectionate. Your Tashka will be a friend; different things to bring trained. And in the summer I will come - I will go hunting with her. I decided to become a hunter. Here I got myself a hunting dog, and by the summer I’ll get together with the money - you look, and I’ll buy myself a gun. And the game is all for you.
From which end to hold the gun, he doesn’t know yet, - the mother smiled, - and he gives game, an eccentric man! - She looked at the dog and threw up her hands:
My wish! What a tailless freak! ..
Children from all over the village came running - and, well, laugh:
Latka! Latka! Patch!
And the neighbors Kolka and Tolka immediately put down a teaser:
Tashka, Tashka, simplicity,
She has a dog without a tail,
Uhi with a shovel
Pay in the eye!
Tanya was very offended by her dog.
Baretka
In the morning Tanya jumped up early and ran to school. And there is no one baretque, as if not, and where she touched it in the evening - she will not remember at all.
Latka, Latka! - screams. - Look for a baretochka, you understand? Search!
Latka raised one ear, lowered the other, realized something - and dived under the bench!
Got it, got it! - Tanya was delighted. - Look, mom, now Latka will bring me a baretto!
And rightly so: Latka is dragging from under the bench ... what is it? Yes, old boot!
Hey fool! Tanya got angry. - Baretka, baretka, I told you, not the bootleg! Understand? Ba-ret-ku! Seek, seek!
Patch wil-wil-wil with a tail-stump - yes, through the door! A minute has not passed - dragging from the closet ... a dead rat. And gives Tanya a hand.
Fu, crap! - Tanya almost cries. - In a rat, or what, I will put on my foot? What an unscrupulous!
And the mother says:
Why are you scolding the dog in vain! How does she know what a "barette" is? The city has never heard of such a word. Show her your other baretto, give her a good sniff - so she will understand. Dogs understand more and more with their noses.
Tanya gave Latka a sniff of her barette, and she understood: dive under the bed - and drags Tanya's low shoes.
Here's a smart one! - Tanya was delighted. I quickly put on my shoes and ran to school.
dive
Spring came. The ice on the lake melted - and the water shone, blue-blue!
For the first time, Tanya ran with her Latka to the shore.
Running dog - bang into the water!
Tanya screams:
Crazy, where are you? The water is ice cold - you will get pneumonia!
Where there! Plays in the water, swims.
Neighbor boys Kolya and Tolya came up. Kolya bent down, picked up a stone from his fist and shouted:
On, Latka, on!
He swung and how he would throw a stone into the lake! Stone - Bulk! - and went circles on the water.
And Latka is a dive! - and disappeared from sight.
Tanya gasped:
My dog drowned!
And Latka did not even think of drowning: she took out a stone from the bottom, emerged, snorts, swims. She climbed ashore and gives Tanya the prey, and her mouth is covered in blood: she tore it on a sharp stone. The boys laugh
Ay, little dog - dive, a real diver!
Tanya was very angry with the boys and quickly took Latka home.
Hunting
At the end of the summer, Uncle Petya arrived - on vacation.
Well, - asks, - a dog of the Spanish breed? Did you like it?
Very good doggy! - mother and Tanya answer in one voice. - Just a smart dog!
That's wonderful! Tomorrow we will go hunting with her, to the lake. With this breed, hunting is just for ducks. I bought myself a double shotgun.
The teacher came early in the morning, and Uncle Petya went hunting with him. And they called Tanya with them - to help carry the game.
They walk along the lake. Latka runs ahead, Uncle Petya walks behind her with a double-barreled shotgun, behind him is a teacher with a single-barreled shotgun, Tanya is behind everyone.
Suddenly - shirr! - a duck flies out of the reeds.
Uncle Petya - bang! bang! - from his double-barreled shotgun, the teacher - bang! - from his single-barrel. And the duck flies to itself - and disappeared behind the forest.
Uncle Petya followed her with his eyes, scratched his head and said:
This is a teal. Painful little duck. And it runs like crazy. It's impossible to get into this.
And immediately after the shots, Latka threw herself into the reeds, swam there, swam - she sees that there is no dead duck there, and returned to the hunters.
A large duck flies out of the reeds - a mallard.
Teacher - wow! Uncle Petya - bang! bang!
The duck just stepped up and disappeared from sight.
Ahem! Ahem! the teacher cleared his throat. - That's right, I flew to die ...
Uncle Petya said nothing, and this time Latka didn't even get into the water. The guns were loaded. Let's move on.
But no matter how many ducks flew out of the reeds, no matter how much the teacher and Uncle Petya bobbed, the birds flew away intact. And every time the hunters found the reason why the game does not fall. And Tanya followed them and smiled: she was glad that the ducks escaped from the shots alive and well.
Finally, the hunters got tired and sat down to rest.
Miner
Tanya stepped aside from them, chose a place where the reeds moved away from the shore, and began to swim. And Latka swam with her, swam and swam into the reeds.
As soon as Tanya got out of the water, got dressed - Latka swims from the reeds and holds in her teeth ... a duck. She got out and gives Tanya a hand.
Tanya looks: the duck is alive! Even though she is big, but her wings have not yet grown, she cannot fly. They call them slippers, because they both rush to run away, so with their wings on the water - slap-slap-slap! - and rise into the air - no way! Here Latka in the reeds caught him.
Tanya called out to Uncle Petya. And Latka is already dragging the second slipper.
While the hunters "oh!" yes, “ah!” - she dragged six ducklings, a whole brood!
Oh, and the little dog shamed us! - says Uncle Petya. - We shot, shot - we didn’t take a single duck for lunch. And Latka swam - brought half a dozen meals. Yes, no shot. This is such a getter!
Tanya asks:
What kind of "dinners"? I won't let you kill the slippers! My slippers: Latka brought them to me. Let everyone live with me!
Hunters see - there is nothing to do. Tanya is right: her ducks. They put everyone alive in a bag and dragged them home. Oh, and there was laughter at the hunters in the village! “Your fraction,” they say, “only lives the game!”
Well, yes, the hunters themselves laughed at themselves with others.
We see for ourselves - we are not good at arrows. We decided to sell the guns. Let Latka go hunting alone for us: she does it better.
And Tanya fed all six ducklings like that.
In the autumn, when wild ducks gathered to fly away, their overgrown wings were clipped - and they remained to spend the winter in the chicken coop. Tanya fed them plenty, and they became very attached to the kind girl. They will hear her voice from afar and - kvyak! kvyak! kvyak! - all six of them hobble towards her, one after another - in single file.
In the forest
Schoolchildren were preparing for the holiday of the Seventh of November, decorating their classes with green branches. And stayed at school until late twilight.
Who lives close - that's okay. And Tanya with neighbors Kolya and Tolya, second-graders, have to go home three kilometers - yes, through the forest, and fields. And in the forest the road is black-black - washed away by rains.
The boys say:
We'd better not go - we'll wait until the horse is sent. The road is nowhere to be seen. It's scary to go.
Well, Tanya is so brave! When Latka is with her, she is not afraid of anything. But Latka is nowhere from Tanya, and they go to school together; while Tanya is in the classroom, Latka is playing in the yard.
Tanya says to the boys:
Oh you cowards! Why, my Latka will run ahead of us, she will show us the way. She will not go astray: she sees the road with her nose.
Persuaded the boys.
They entered the forest - it was completely dark, the road in the dark was not visible. And Latka runs ahead - the children can see Latka: Latka's white back flickers ahead. You can see white on black even in the dark.
The guys walked like that, walked - at night the road seems much longer - they spanked, spanked ... And suddenly it snowed! The first snow of the year, and thick, thick, large flakes, covered everything around. 
And Latka suddenly barked, barked, and sped off somewhere away. That's right, the hare went out onto the road - she drove the hare.
The guys went a little forward, they feel that there is untrodden ground under their feet. They walked a little more - they began to stumble upon bushes, trees ... The road was completely lost somewhere.
The guys went back - as it seemed to them, they had just walked. There is no road. They took it to the right - there is no road, a thicket. We turned left, walked, walked - the forest seemed to be less frequent, the tops of the trees became visible, but there was still no road.
The boys sniffed, sniffed - and roared!
Tanya is the worst of all: after all, it was she who persuaded little Kolya and Tolya not to wait for the horse, to go home themselves. Now they will go after them - they will not find them in the forest, since they have gone astray. And Tanya alone to answer. 
The guys stopped: they realized that they were lost ...
Steps
Tanya seated the boys under a large spruce tent; even in the dark I made out that it was spruce: it pricks great.
Our heads are gone! We will freeze in the cold, the wolves and bears will eat us! ..
Chick, you! - Tanya on them. - There have been no wolves-bears here for a hundred years - everyone was taken out.
And she herself just remembered: yesterday only her mother told me that a bear had appeared in the forest beyond the lake. Killed the calf. How long will it take for him to run across here?.. And oh, how scared she became! I also wanted to shout to Latka - my voice was intercepted: well, how can a bear hear instead of Latka! ..
The boys are silent, only sobbing. It is heard in the silence: cold fluffs fall softly on the ground, on the branches. A little rustle in the forest.
And suddenly Tanya heard - some noise from afar! Closer, closer... Like a Baba Yaga - a bone leg is walking along the road, tapping with a stick.
Closer, closer... Tsok-tsuk! Tsuk-tsuk! Tsok!..
The boys sob, they hear nothing. And Tanya's heart skipped a beat with fear. If only Latka were here: she would have made out with her nose what was there ... 
Looking for
Meanwhile, Tanya and the boys were already missing in the village: it was already night, the snow had fallen, but the children were still not from school.
The collective farmers quickly harnessed the horse, and Tanya's mother drove to school: she thought the guys were still there.
I entered the forest. Horseshoes are clattering on the frozen ground, the road is covered with snow - visible in the dark.
Arrived quickly. But the school turned out to be closed, and the watchman said that Tanya and both boys had gone home at dusk.
They’ve gone astray, they’re straying in the forest, ”the mother guessed. - Babies are freezing!
And she drove the horse back: quicker to gather the people - yes, into the forest! 
Latka
... Tanya listened, frozen with fear.
But the sound of the Baba Yaga's hooves - the bone leg, having approached, suddenly began to move away, move away and died away in the distance. Fear released Tanya.
And suddenly something cold, wet poked into Tanya's hands: a dog's nose!
Latka, Latka! Tanya whispered. - My doggy! And all her courage returned to Tanya in an instant.
Well, kids, let's run! she ordered the boys cheerfully. - Latka will bring us out alive! 
And it's true: they walked quite a bit through the thinning forest - and went out into the fields. It was much brighter here. Plus, the snow stopped falling. On the white field, the black “patches” on the sides of Latka, who was running ahead, were clearly visible: black on white is visible even in the dark.
Tanya ran straight through the fields with the boys to her house. The ducks heard her from the chicken coop and quacked loudly: “Kvyak! kvyak! kvyak! And from around the corner of the street there was suddenly heard: “Tsok-tsuk! Tsuk-tsuk! Tsok! - like a Baba Yaga - a bone leg is walking, tapping on the frozen ground with a stick.
Whoa! cried the mother. - No, you, Tanyusha?
Me, me, and with the boys! Latka brought us!
Well, as the children found out about all this, they immediately began to respect Latka, a dog of the Spanish breed, short-legged, ears to the floor, tail with a stump, white herself, and black spots on the sides and on the eye, like patches.
Drawings by A. Yakobson
