By Kathy G. Short, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ and Kathleen Crawford-McKinney, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
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.
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The Story of Ukraine: An Anthem of Glory and Freedom by Olena Kharchenko, Michael Sampson, and Polina Doroshenko (il), 9781612546080. Brown Books, 2022.
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
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Yellow Butterfly: A Story from the Ukraine by Oleksandr Shatokhin, 9781636550640, Red Comet Press, 2023.
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.
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How War Changed Rondo by Romana Romanyshyn & Andriy Lesiv. Oksana Lushchevska (trans.), 9781592703678, Enchanted Lion Books, 2022.
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.
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83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary by Don Brown, 9780063311565, HarperCollins, 2023
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.
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The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman, 9781984837356, Puffin Books, 2021.
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.
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The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh, 978250313607, Roaring Brook Press, 2023.
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.
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Winterkill by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, 9781338831429, Scholastic, 2022.
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”).
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Don’t Tell the Nazis by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, 9781338310535, Scholastic, 2019.
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.
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I Hate Borsch! By Vevgenia Nayberg, 9780802855800, Eerdmans, 2022.
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!
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Stars & Poppy Seeds by R. Romanyshyn, R., & Andriy Lesiv, 9781849766203, Tate Publishing, 2019.
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.
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The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale by Jan Brett, 9780399231094, Putnam, 1989/2009.
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.
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Sirko: The Ukrainian folktale in English and Ukrainian by Olha Tkachenko, 9781775040286, Little Big Me Publishing, 2020.
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.
- Themes: 83 Days in Mariupol, Andriy Lesiv, Anne Blankman, Blackbird Girls, Don Brown, Don’t Tell the Nazis, How War Changed Rondo, I Hate Borsch!, Jan Brett, Katherine Marsh, Kathleen Crawford-Mckinney, Kathy Short, Long Year, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Michael Sampson, Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale, Oksana Lushchevska, Oleksandr Shatokhin, Olena Kharchenko, Olha Tkachenko, Polina Doroshenko, R. Romanyshyn, Romana Romanyshyn, Sirko: The Ukrainian folktale in English and Ukrainian, Stars and Poppy Seeds, Story of Ukraine, Vevgenia Nayberg, Winterkill, Yellow Butterfly: A Story from the Ukraine
- Descriptors: WOW Dozen