Children and animals are often similar in that they are not at the top of the social power structure, and yet they are also capable of violence, as literature exemplarily demonstrates. In reality and in literature, children and animals are corporeal beings and thus equally open and capable of injury. They are also similar in that they have a distinct play instinct. They tend towards that free and ‘mere’ activity that is limited in time and space and is called ‘play.’ Fëdor Dostoevskii, Anton Chekhov and Andrei Platonov are just a few representatives of Russian literature who incorporate violent animal-child encounters into their works. The article asks how the experiences of violence are integrated into the texts. A narratological analysis is conducted to examine how literature provides a perspective for animal victims, whose perceptions usually remain closed to representation. In addition, the connection between ‘mere’ play and violence, which is practised by children and adults alike, is explored.