Foreign children's classics in the Soviet Union

       At Russia Beyond the Headlines Alena Tveritina reports that: 'In Soviet children's literature, retellings and altered versions of foreign classics captivated society far more than translations -- so much so that some classic characters were completely russified', in How Dr. Dolittle became Dr. Aybolit.
       So, for example, Alexander Tolstoy took on Pinocchio -- but:

At first I just wanted to write Collodi's content in Russian, but then I abandoned that idea because it was too boring and bland

       (For what it's worth, his version was phenomenally successful, even for that captive market.)