The title of the story seems to promise the reader a fairy tale: “Once upon a time...” But the lively, witty, eventful story of the wonderful writer Nikolai Navolochkin leads us into the most ordinary yard, where ordinary guys live - the same as in your yard . Or maybe not exactly the same. Boys and girls make friends, quarrel and make up, collect scrap metal, worry about grades and even... hunt down a spy! Full of life and movement, graphic illustrations by Vladimir Galdyaev organically complement the text, allowing you to see and understand the big and small characters of the story and their experiences in a new way.