Guest Post – Oksana Lushchevska: The Picturebook That Opened Many Hearts

On this, the anniversary of the beginning of the War in Ukraine, we turn today to children’s author, Oksana Lushchevska.

One of the functions of contemporary realism for children is to accurately portray the unfolding history and to showcase the problems and issues of living today. One day “today” becomes history, which represents the values we pass on to the next generations. It is not an easy task to reflect on the complex events; it is a special challenge to portray war in children’s books.

As a scholar, I am always curious what serves as an impetus for the author to write a particularly challenging book. The author’s story is as valuable as the book itself. Therefore I had a story of how I wrote the picturebook about war: Quiet Night, My Astronaut also known as Silent Night, My Astronaut (in UK publication).

At the beginning of February, 2022, I went to the bookstore just to browse through the new children’s books. I noticed the beautiful picturebook: Today I saw a Wonderful Woodpecker by Michal Skibinski. It is a diary of an eight-year-old Polish boy in the summer of 1939. Second World War was tragically approaching Poland. When I looked through this evocative picturebook, I felt shivers – the possibility of a full-scaled Russian invasion was already discussed in the news, but I didn’t want to believe it. I, as many other Ukrainians, wanted to naively believe, it could not be happening. How could it be? But it did. On February, 24, 2022 Ukrainian woke up from missiles and explosions.

Being a member of PEN Ukraine, a cultural and human rights organization, I remember how the same day I got the email from the leading Ukrainian writer, Oksana Zabuzhko. She said: if you are in relative safety, please write down what you see and know – the narratives win after all. Thus, this email as well as the book Today I saw a Wonderful Woodpecker, were the major impetuses for me to start writing the manuscript for Quiet Night, My Astronaut.

The picturebook narrates a story of a 7 year-old girl Ia and her family, who are going through the initial shock of war. It is written in a form of a diary. I did it without searching for originality but rather specificiality. I wanted to show what I and my family as well as many other Ukrainians experienced.

Every day I listened to my parents, who were hiding in shelters, about the war. Every day I talked to my friends – in many parts of Ukraine – about their safety and (well) being. Every day I wrote my notes, imagining that I am a child. It is true, that in the very challenging time we, the adults, sometimes feel as our inner childish self is struggling to make sense: if one cannot make sense – it is better to write down what you see and feel. Senses will come next.

 Quiet Night, My Astronaut  is not about the war in particular. It is rather about the values of humanity, but it is also a good historical note. It includes  interesting details: conversations and actions of people in the unfolding war, the role of children’s book and reading, value of an adult as a safety guard, even jokes from shelters and a visit of an American film producer and celebrity. The mood of the picturebook is not heavy, it is truly childish and deeply realistic. It is an easy-read book overall.

It is also a kind of very personal book. Interestingly enough, it is also a  collective book: when I show the  manuscript to my Ukrainian colleagues and editors, they all said: “Oksana, this is my story…”  When Kateryna Stepanishcheva, the illustrator, got the manuscript, she said: “It is my story as well…”

No wonder the book was the winner of Goethe-Institut Best Book Design, it also selected as an All-Ukrainian Best Book and soon was published in the USA and United Kingdom. In UK it was also called the best book of 2024 by the Financial Time (UK).

I am honored to know that Quiet Night, My Astronaut opened many international discussions and opened many hearts throughout the world.

None of the mentioned above is new. The history has a lot of examples of children’s picturebooks about war. But does Quiet Night, My Astronaut make a difference? Yes, for sure. Every generation in every nation needs to learn to go ahead and accurately write what we see and hear; we need to write this for children’s books, and to do it with assurance and without apology.

Children are capable and eager to read complex stories. Therefore, it is an imperative to let the children’s books bravely portray the uneasy contemporary events.  

Many thanks to Oksana for sharing her story with us today. Quiet Night, My Astronaut is available wherever good books are sold or lent.

Filed under: Guest Posts