Education of mercy as a traditional Russian value based on a modern teenage book

Introduction. The problem of studying ways and means of educating the younger generation of high moral ideals is an acutely urgent task of modern science, since it is a response to the challenges of the time, laid down in the basis of state policy to preserve and strengthen traditional Russian spiritual and moral values. The purpose of the article is to present the results of a study of the educational impact of a modern children's and youth book on the example of Elena Mamontova's novella "The White Owl" on understanding and strengthening such a traditional Russian spiritual and moral value as mercy. Materials and methods. The tools for socio-pedagogical research were 26 children's books – winners of literary prizes over the past ten years, from 2013 to 2023, and presented on official websites. Among them, the books most in demand by the children's readership were highlighted. The selection was carried out using the methods of analyzing readers' reviews, readers' forms of children's libraries and literary analysis of the ideological and artistic merits of the works. Based on the ideological and substantive criterion, the expert evaluation method selected E. Mamontova's novel "The White Owl" as having a spiritual and moral educational potential. Results. The author summarized the results of the experimental study. The subjects, 22 students of the 7th grade, teenagers of 13-14 years old, first independently, and then together with the teacher discussed traditional Russian values, primarily charity. After the initial independent reading of the book, 82% were able to understand the main idea of the work – the importance of mercy, which indicates the accessibility of the ideological and artistic system of the teenage book to readers. At the same time, special work in the lesson deepened and enriched the students' ideas about mercy: 100% realized the concept of mercy not just as a synonym for kindness, but as the ability to forgive out of compassion, humanity, and show leniency. 60% of the subjects somehow compare themselves with the characters of the story, noting a similar experience in their lives, which indicates a meaningful reading. In addition, some young readers, after special work with the book, were able to go beyond the specific situation and see the problem of mercy in a broad life perspective, talking about the fate of future generations. Conclusion. On an experimental basis, a conclusion is formulated about modern adolescent literature as an important resource for the spiritual development of the younger generation and the strengthening of its national identity. The conclusion is confirmed by the analysis of students' feedback on E. Mamontova's story "The White Owl", which contains moral lessons that allow preserving Russian national identity and help to educate a spiritually developed personality of a teenager.