Zhitkov was born in Novgorod; his father worked as a mathematics teacher and his mother was a pianist.

His works include numerous books in which he, in a figurative form, described various professions.

His books are based on his rich experience as a sailor and then ship captain, scientist, traveler and explorer.

He also worked as a navigator, an ichthyologist, a metal worker, a shipbuilding engineer, a teacher of physics and drafting, and a technical college headmaster.

He is best known for the children's travel book What I Saw (Russian: Что я видел) about the summer vacation adventures of a curious little boy nicknamed Pochemuchka (Russian: Почемучка, a new word coined by Zhitkov from Почему, meaning Why?).

Zhitkov was a close friend of Korney Chukovsky, who wrote in his diary entry for 28 December 1931:Zhitkov is all upset about the self-flagellation going on among critics at the Writers' Union.

[...] Zhitkov's interpretation of the now famous meeting runs as follows: "We're all just so many sons of bitches, so let's pull down our pants and let ourselves be whipped.

"[2] Zhitkov's historical novel about the 1905 Revolution, Viktor Vavich (Russian: Виктор Вавич), published posthumously in 1941,[1] was immediately destroyed and republished in 1999 only thanks to Lydia Chukovskaya having saved a copy; Boris Pasternak called it "the best thing that has ever been written about 1905; it's a shame that nobody knows this book.

"[3] Zhitkov also featured as a character in Samuil Marshak's children's poem "Post" from 1927.

The poem was adapted for screen in a 1964 animated film, where Zhitkov was voiced by actor Erast Garin.

On July 10, 1939, Pravda, the newspaper of the Communist Party, ran a feature on him in which his book What I saw was very much praised.

Seven Fires: Sketches, Short Stories, Narrative, Plays — 1982 Zhitkov B.

Selected works (Composition, introductory article and notes by V. Glotser).