Among the toys made from natural materials, lesoviki or mokhoviki are perhaps the most charming. The body of the little person was made from soft dry moss, belted with bast. Hands were made from pinecones. The doll faces were made from small pieces of lime tree with features crudely carved or penciled. They wore lapti, shoes of woven bast, on their feet. Very often these miniature forest people had walking sticks or bast baskets in their hands, the traditional tools for mushroom gathering and berry picking. This kind of toy was made in many regions of Russia, wherever there were pine forests, but mostly in Kirov, Vologda, and Kostroma Provinces.

Alexander Grekov