The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.
December’s Book of the month is:
Cryones: Збірка зовсім недитячих дитячих історій / A collection of not-at-all childish children’s stories
The children involved in Gen.Ukrainian
Kyiv: Gen.Ukrainian, 2024
Shelfmark: HQ792.U38.CRY 2024
The Book of the Month for December will be distressing for some. It manifests the lived experience of war for children, in their own pictures, stories and words. Cryones came out of Gen.Ukrainian, a project to help Ukraine’s children heal through art. It presents pictures and stories from contemporary Ukrainian children.
Book Overview
The title ‘Cryones’ is a mixture of the English words ‘crayon’, and ‘cry ones’. It refers to Gen.Ukrainian’s rehabilitation of Ukrainian children who have suffered psychological trauma, through art therapy. Gen.Ukrainian is a non-governmental organisation that was set up in 2022: it strives to heal children who have experienced the horrors of the Russian invasion first-hand. Cryones was published as a testament both to the creativity of Ukrainian children, and the reality of their suffering. Oksana Lebedieva, one of the project’s leaders, emphasises that the book’s authors and artists are the children who came to Gen.Ukrainian: the adults only organised the material and production.
Cryones offers a series of stories in pictures, drawings, collages and texts, made by their child-authors. One of these authors is Katya, a talented gymnast from Maripol’, known to the father she lost as людина пружина, or ‘the little human spring’. Another is Luka, consoled by a new friendship with a dog called Red. The children tell profoundly tragic stories – and yet they finish the book with their visions of a bright, peaceful future. Ukrainian texts are translated into English, while the pictures speak for themselves.
How can I access it?
You can currently find this book around the corner from our Issue Desk, above our New Books display. This title is for library use only and its shelfmark is HQ792.U38.CRY 2024
What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.