{"id":71119,"date":"2025-10-11T01:40:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/71119\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T01:40:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:40:23","slug":"three-ukrainian-books-included-in-the-white-ravens-2025-catalogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/71119\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Ukrainian books included in The White Ravens 2025 catalogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Ukrainian books have been included in the White Ravens 2025<\/a> \u2014 the international annual catalogue of recommended children\u2019s and young adult literature. None of the titles chosen focus on the war; instead this year\u2019s selection highlights a Hutsul fairy tale, a heartfelt book about a father-daughter relationship, and a visual story exploring communication and understanding.<\/p>\n

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The Ukrainian titles featured this year are:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cA Strange Carpathian Story\u201d by Vasyl Karpiuk, illustrated by Olesia Sekeresh <\/p>\n

Brustury Publishing House, 2024<\/p>\n

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\u201cMolfar Kotseniek is a kind wizard who protects the peace of the Carpathians and befriends a brown bear named Vedmedyuk. One day, Kotseniek receives a letter from the past, and his world turns upside down. What secret does the old molfar* guard, why has winter \u2018gone wrong,\u2019 will he find an apprentice\u2014and what do dragons have to do with it?\u201d\u2013 reads the annotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Vasyl Karpiuk is a writer and co-founder of the Discursus and Brustury publishing houses. He is the author of over ten books, including the poetry collection \u201cMulled Wine on the Road to Hoverla,\u201d short fiction, essays, books for children, and a series of adventure books about Oleksa Dovbush. He is also the author of the novelization of the screenplay for the Ukrainian movie \u201cDovbush.\u201d Karpiuk is particularly known for his books about the culture of the Hutsul people, an ethnographic group of Ukrainians who reside in the Carpathian Mountains. The book was listed among BaraBooka\u2019s 15 Best Children\u2019s Literature 2024<\/a> and longlisted among six Ukrainian illustrators\u2019 works<\/a> for 2024 World Illustration Awards\u00a0<\/p>\n

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* Molfar is a man believed to have magical abilities in Ukrainian folk culture<\/p>\n

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\u201cWarm Things for Tatama\u201d by Oksana Lushchevska and Dzmitry Bandarenka, illustrated by Oksana Drachkovska<\/p>\n

Ranok Publishing House, 2024<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat are warm things for? To keep us cozy, of course! Everyone knows that when you\u2019re cold, you put on socks or a sweater. But the warmest things in the world can\u2019t be touched\u2014they are pleasant memories, the smiles of loved ones, their care and love\u2026 All of these warm our hearts like hats warm our ears. Let\u2019s search together for this warmth \u2013 on the pages of the book and within ourselves \u2013 and share it with others,\u201d reads the annotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Oksana Lushchevska is an author of 68 children\u2019s books that are translated into six languages. She earned a doctorate in education from the University of Georgia (USA). She specializes in children\u2019s literature and reader\u2019s response. Her book \u201cQuiet Night, My Astronaut\u201d<\/a> was recognized as one of the most significant Ukrainian releases of 2022 by Chytomo literary observers, and it also received the Ukrainian \u201cBook of the Year\u201d award in the Children\u2019s literature category. For Oksana Lushchevska, this is not the first collaboration with Dzmitry Bandarenko. The couple also wrote a book \u201c101 Light Hoses\u201d<\/a> \u2013 also illustrated by Oksana Drachkovska (translated into Finnish, Kustantamo S&S).<\/p>\n

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\u201cHalf a Word: About Communication and Understanding Each Other\u201d by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv<\/p>\n

The Old Lion Publishing House, 2024<\/p>\n

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\u201cSharing thoughts and feelings, finding a common language, telling stories and listening to them, talking face to face or from afar, or simply spending time together \u2013 that\u2019s communication. This book explores diverse ways of transmitting messages, from human to animal communication, from cell signals to cosmic ones, from pheromones to bioluminescence. It touches upon verbal and non-verbal communication, Morse and Braille codes, gestures, signals, and even how cats, dogs, and tomatoes \u2018talk.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv are an award-winning couple of illustrators who work together as Art Studio Agrafka. They hold the record for the highest number of sold translation rights for their books among Ukrainian illustrators. Their recent books published in English include \u201cOn the Move: Things in Motion on Earth and Beyond\u201d and \u201cSight: Glimmer, Glow, Spark, Flash!\u201d (a follow-up to last year\u2019s \u201cSound: Shhh . . . Bang . . . Pop . . . Boom!\u201d). Their book \u201cHow War Changed Rondo\u201d received the BolognaRagazzi Award and more that 30 translations around the world. Their books are published in the U.S. by Chronicle Books and Enchanted Lion Books; in Ukraine by The Old Lion Publishing House.<\/p>\n

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This year\u2019s catalogue features 215 books for children and young adults, published in 49 languages from 63 countries. \u201cThis year our cover features a large white raven constructed from rough slats of wood. Its interior is a most welcoming paradise for children \u2013 a dreamlike place that exudes the magic and intimacy of reading. This raven recalls the technically sophisticated, mechanical automatons that have amazed people for centuries. Or is it a Trojan Raven slyly smuggling books into the land of non-readers?\u201d the editors note in the preface. The image was created by Norwegian illustrator \u00d8yvind Torseter.<\/p>\n

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The full catalogue is available online<\/a> and was released ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The White Ravens is an annual catalogue published by the International Youth Library (IYL) in Munich, serving as a comprehensive recommendation list for exceptional international children\u2019s and youth literature. Established in 1986, the English-language catalogue features approximately 200 outstanding new titles each year, selected by the IYL\u2019s children\u2019s literature experts. These selections span about 40 languages and come from more than 50 countries, highlighting the diversity and quality of global book production.<\/p>\n

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Cover image: The White Ravens catalogue website<\/p>\n

Copy editing: Ben Angel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three Ukrainian books have been included in the White Ravens 2025 \u2014 the international annual catalogue of recommended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-71119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}