Two Ukrainian books enter international list of outstanding children's publications – photo
The United States Board on Books for Young People has created a list of outstanding books from around the world in 2024. Two Ukrainian publications were included in the list: Yellow Butterfly by Oleksandr Shatokhin and Who Will Make the Snow? by Marjana Prokhasko and Taras Prokhasko.
The news emerged on the USBBY website.
The jury chose the best children's literature from other countries that introduced readers in the US to outstanding authors and illustrators. They also considered books that help children in the US see the world from different perspectives.
What Ukrainian children's books are about
Yellow Butterfly is a wordless picture book about life after the war created by Oleksandr Shatokhin. It tells the story of a girl running away from "restrictions and slavery" and meeting butterflies and finding hope in them.
"The girl is Ukraine itself, the one who runs away and protests against restrictions and slavery. Meeting butterflies, free and bright as they are, the girl realises that life will go on, that the freedom of a butterfly cannot be limited or destroyed...," reads the book's annotation.
The USBBY list includes the book under the heading Grief and Uncertainty. The English translation was published by Red Comet Press.
The Staryi Lev (Old Lion) Publishing House published Yellow Butterflies in Ukraine in 2022.
Who Will Make the Snow? is the first book for children by Marjana and Taras Prokhasko. It also became Marjana Prokhasko's first experience as an illustrator.
"A bright fairy tale about a family of moles and their thirteen mole cubs, about friendship and mutual assistance, care and home comfort, and who actually makes snow...", the story is described on the website.
The book is included in the section Fantasy and Imagination in the English translation by Boris Dralyuk and Jennifer Croft from Elsewhere Editions.
The original book was also published by the Old Lion Publishing House.
Earlier, Who Will Make the Snow? was included in The New York Times' list of the best books for children and teenagers in 2023.
In addition, the children's book won several awards in Ukraine. It was a winner of the BBC Book of the Year 2013 competition in the Children's category, received a LitAccent of the Year 2013 award in the Poetry and Prose for Children category, and took first place in the Children's Holiday category of Book of the Year 2013.
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