Two Ukrainian publications included in IBBY's list of outstanding books

This is reported on the IBBY website.

The International Board on Books for Children and Young People (IBBY) has published a list of outstanding international books. It includes two Ukrainian publications.

In the Grief and Uncertainty category, the book Yellow Butterfly: A story from Ukraine by Oleksandr Shatokhin was awarded by Red Comet Press, which translated it into English. On the publisher's website, it is described as a “silent book” about life after the war, a broken and limited war. The barbed wire at the beginning with the spider is an image of the limitations and constraints and the fear that war brings.

"War, like a barbed wire, drives you into certain frameworks, limitations, lack of freedom. Butterflies are what existed before the war, like souls, like places that were destroyed by war. The girl is actually Ukraine, the one who runs away and protests against restrictions and slavery. Meeting butterflies, despite everything free and bright, the girl understands that life will continue, the freedom of a butterfly cannot be limited or destroyed...," the description says.

The Fantasy and Imagination category includes the book Who Will Make the Snow by writer Taras Prokhasko and illustrator Mariana Prokhasko. The book tells the story of newborn twin moles who live in a bizarrely imaginary forest area. The title comes from the moles' belief that when they die, they will go up to the clouds and make snow for those who remain.

Who Will Make the Snow has previously won the BBC Children's Book of the Year 2013 award in the BBC Children's Book of the Year 2013 category, as well as the LitAccent of the Year 2013 award in the Poetry and Prose for Children category and was ranked first in the Book of the Year 2013 rating in the Children's Holiday category. In 2014, the book was also included in the international catalog The White Ravens, which is a list of the best children's books from more than 40 countries. At the end of last year, it was included in The New York Times Best Children's Books 2023 list.

The book was published in English by Elsewhere Editions.