WOW Dozen: A Dozen Ukrainian Books
Although we are constantly bombarded with images of the war in Ukraine, many people know little about this country, its culture, or its long history of conflict with Russia/Soviet Union. This set of books reflects a range of perspectives on Ukrainian culture and history, many authored and illustrated by Ukrainians or people with Ukrainian heritage. The stories involve significant historical events, such as Stalin's mass starvation of Ukrainian people in 1932, the Nazi occupation in 1941-1943, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, and the 2022 siege of Mariupol by Russian forces. Pairing these books with recent news articles connects this history to current events. The strength of Ukrainian people, especially the Jewish population, in the midst of suffering is thus a frequent theme, but the set does include several humorous folktales.
This bilingual picturebook celebrates Ukraine through the lens of its national anthem, providing a brief history and folklore-style illustrations of its people and culture to highlight the theme of their willingness to defend their country against invasion
Using the imagery of yellow butterflies in the midst of darkness, this wordless picturebook evokes the emotional response of Ukrainians to the Russian invasion while retaining hope as more butterflies appear.
An allegorical picturebook in which a vibrant town goes dark when War arrives, until three friends use light to disperse the darkness, bringing peace despite the scars and pain.
A graphic novel documenting the horrors of the war through the defiance of the people of Mariupol as they strive to protect their town from Russian attacks in 2022.
By learning to trust each other, two 5th grade adversaries become best friends after they are sent away due to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion and face abuse, anti-Semitism, and Soviet oppression.
Matthew, trapped at home during COVID-19, uncovers a dark family secret leading back to the Holodomor, the 1930s famine caused by Stalin’s policies, as he helps his great-grandmother unpack storage boxes.
Nyl and Alice work to expose Stalin’s genocidal actions to the outside world as Ukrainian farmers are forced to give up their land and crops during the 1930s Holodomor (“murder by hunger”).
Ukrainians initially cheered when they were liberated from Soviet occupation by Nazi soldiers in 1941, but their hope was shattered as Jewish people were killed and Ukrainians were sent away to labor camps.
This humorous story takes the reader on a journey of the Ukrainian countryside as the narrator explains why she avoids her homeland’s favorite delicacy…until she realizes that something is missing when she immigrates to a new country, Borsch!
Flora loves to count everything in her Ukrainian context but becomes frustrated when she has difficulty counting the number of stars in the sky until her mother reassures her that she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to.
This familiar tale of a series of animals attempting to crawl into a boy’s lost mitten contains illustrations, especially in the borders, filled with visual details from Ukrainian culture.
This bilingual folktale, set in the Ukrainian countryside with cartoon illustrations, tells the humorous story of a friendship between an old dog and a wolf.
WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older "must have" books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen. Use the printer icon in the upper left corner of this post to print or save this list as a PDF.
