Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) was born in St. Petersburg. His father, a mathematician, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, but Kabalevsky pursued his inclination for the arts, and enrolled in the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where he studied composition and piano. His oeuvre includes operas, symphonies, ballet music, piano concertos, a cello concerto, chamber music, film music, and piano pieces, but his overriding goal was to bring music closer to children. While teaching piano in a state school, he realized that there was little study material suitable for children, so he started to write simple pieces that simultaneously promoted technical development and developed musical taste.

This volume contains a selection of 45 of these works. There are short compositions of just a few bars for the youngest learners, and there are also longer, more challenging pieces, so the volume provides a repertoire for several years of piano study. Most of the works are character pieces with creative titles, but the collection also includes compositions presenting musical genres.