Evgenia Iosifovna Yakhnina came to children's literature not young. She studied biology, history, mastered several foreign languages, taught at a higher educational institution. The first literary works of Evgenia Iosifovna appeared in the pre-revolutionary years. Knowledge of languages ​ ​ gave the writer the opportunity not only to translate into Russian numerous works of fiction of French and Bulgarian literature, but also helped her in working on historical stories. The first historical story by E.I. Yakhnina "Cree-Cree," co-authored with M.N. Aleinikov, was published in 1940 and was repeatedly reprinted. The historical story "Uncle Francois's Attic" tells of the July Revolution in France in 1830, which ended the Bourbon monarchy.