Since the Russian invasion more than four years ago, there has been an increase in children’s books about the war in Ukraine.
The bridge was torn to pieces!
The walls and windows vibrate.
The books cover all kinds of topics, including the loss of loved ones and the horror of bombings.
Which I see the funeral
for the first time
They also teach children about military life, reflecting how the war reshaped society in Ukraine.
Backpack
A soldier for combat deployment
packs in kilograms
the gear on which life literally depends.
When Alina Otzemko’s husband joined the Ukrainian Army after Russia invaded Ukraine more than four years ago, she found herself facing questions her parents had never practiced. How would he tell his then 1½-year-old son, Yuri, why his father no longer came home? How can one explain the burnt buildings and blown bridges seen from the car window? And even more difficult, how to explain the war to a child?
Over the years, the answers began to form in his mind, and Mrs. Otzemko began to turn them into a children’s book that would tell the story of the war through Yuri’s eyes. “I felt like it was a great way to make life easier for other parents who are trying to explain to their children what war is,” Ms. Otzemko, a 31-year-old psychologist, said in an interview. “There was no such book”
His book “Why isn’t dad at home?,” takes readers into Yuri’s world during the war, including his anxiety when “planes start flying over the house” and visits to his father near army bases where there are “no toys” but plenty of “flashlights and mice and big guns.”
By mid-2024, the book was ready for publication. Mrs. Otzemko asked her husband to write a foreword. “But he didn’t have time,” she said. “He was killed on June 7.”
Now, without any preparation, Mrs. Otzemko had to tell Yuri that her father was gone. He restrained himself and began to write a book that continued: “Why Did Dad Die?“
Ms. Otzemko’s books are just a few of many published in Ukraine since the war began, all aimed at helping children and their parents cope with its trauma. Their themes include the anguish of family separation, the turmoil of exile, the horror of bombings and the destruction they bring.
Together, the books tell the story of a society profoundly reshaped by a large-scale war that lasted more than four years. On their pages, children encounter everyday weapons and learn terms such as “veterans,” “paratroopers,” and “air defense.” The stories also instill in them a new sense of patriotism shaped by the experience of defending their country from Russia.
Perhaps most importantly, these books help children confront difficult topics like death, destruction, and fear through language they can understand.
“They actually give you a frame for processing,” said Emily Finer, senior lecturer in children’s literature at the University of St Andrews, noting that many of the books use animals and magical figures to navigate experiences that might otherwise be overwhelming.
Ms. Finer said she counted 196 new titles since the war began. He noted that similar books have appeared during past conflicts, but never on this scale. “As a cultural phenomenon, it has no historical precedent,” he said.
Ms. Finer said one of the reasons for the increase is that Ukrainian parents today know that unresolved trauma is costly because they grew up with the legacy of decades of Soviet oppression. silenced the discussion of the suffering of Ukrainians. They don’t want to repeat that pattern and “want better understanding and good mental health for their children,” she said.
One of the first books published after the Russian occupation, “Battle for the cityVolodymyr Chernyshenko solved the question that every parent was thinking at that time: How do you explain the start of the war?
In the story, a peaceful, unnamed Ukrainian town descends into chaos when large military vehicles approach with menacing laughter and rain missiles on them. Rescue tanks come from a Ukrainian fighter known as the Ghost, which destroys tanks from above. The name “recalls the legend.The spirit of Kiev,” a pilot was rumored to have shot down numerous Russian planes in the early days of the war.
A general hides across the river,
Rocket launchers in the trees!
And a new attack in the park.
Ghost rises above the tank,
throw bombs at the enemy.
Bang! The tower is coming down!
‘Death to those who enter,’ he shouts.
Telecommunications manager Irina Bilan said she chose the book for her two sons, Artem and Mark, because it reminded her of the battle for her hometown of Kiev, which was partially besieged by Russian troops in the early weeks of the war.
Ms Bilan, 38, said her sons cried a lot as they turned the pages and learned that Ghost, after saving the city, was eventually destroyed by a Russian missile. But he said he saw this tragic end as an opportunity to open a difficult conversation about soldiers who died defending their country, a topic his sons often hear on radio and television.
Another book that Mrs. Bilan says she often reads with her children is Yevheniya Zavali’s book “Racon and other heroes”. It gives voice to children’s emotions by using stories of animals affected by war.
One tale follows Bretzel, a lion who is afraid of bombings but doesn’t want to admit it, convinced he has to look strong.
Everyone is afraid of missiles and war.
There is nothing unusual about it.
It’s normal to be afraid.
Mrs. Bilan said that she turned to this story after the bombings in the terrible nights of Kiev. “Through books we can experience it,” he said. “So my kids don’t keep it inside, so it doesn’t stay in the background and keep them from living, from being kids.”
At an elementary school in Irpin, Kiev, where Russian forces killed nearly 300 residents during a brief occupation in early 2022, one of the principals of the school, Natalia Cheredniuk, gave a theatrical reading of her book on a recent morning.Ummm. Spirit of Irpin Forest.” In the book, the Russian attack on the city is told through the eyes of a magical forest spirit who protects it, summoning floodwaters and winds to drive away the invaders.
“Are you glad to have a little forest spirit as our guardian?” he asked the 20 or so students gathered in a small classroom. “What would you wish for her?”
“Let the war never begin,” replied one child.
“End the war,” said another.
Mrs. Cheredniuk said that “the most valuable thing is that in this story the children talk about the war rather than hiding their feelings.”
The war, now in its fifth year, is the only reality that many children in Ukraine know and is a daily source of interest.
After Russia’s massive airstrikes on Kiev in late 2022, Ms. Bilan said her 10-year-old son, Artem, began asking about the weapons Ukraine was using to defend itself. Knowing that the Ukrainian Army has the means to protect the nation’s capital “helps give him hope,” he said.
So she bought books for Artem about fighter jets, missiles, drones and firearms, the names of which he now almost knows by heart.
“I definitely remember one of them being a surface-to-air missile system,” Artem said recently, flipping through books on missiles in his family’s apartment.
Sometimes they even discuss the trajectories of Russian ballistic missiles and how Ukraine’s US-made Patriot air defense systems can intercept them, Ms. Bilan said.
Lera Burlakova, a 40-year-old communications officer and war veteran, said she used the books to teach her 7-year-old son, Timur, about all aspects of war, not just weapons, but also the history of war and how it reshaped society. “I want him to grow up as a true Ukrainian patriot,” he said.
took Timur”The Little Book of Travel. Armed Forces of Ukraine,” a children’s encyclopedia that covers everything young readers need to know about the Ukrainian Army. Each page explores a different topic, such as Ukraine’s strike campaign against Russia’s Black Sea fleet and the growing presence of women in the military.
Timur’s favorite page is about war veterans, a nod to his mother. It shows a woman with a prosthetic leg and a man hugging a cat he found on the front line. Next to it is a page about the different types of drones used by Ukraine in the war.
Veterans
These are boys and girls,
men and women involved in combat
and defended their homeland.
Perhaps the most difficult topic is losing loved ones. Ms. Otzemko, a psychologist, said it took her two months to tell her son Yuri that his father was dead. At first he denied that he was sure he was wrong because his father had promised to return. But slowly reality set in. Watching his kindergarten friend reunite with his father who returned from the front, Yuri began to realize that his own father would never come home.
In her second book, seen through Yuri’s eyes, Ms. Otzemko narrates all these stages, accompanied by gentle illustrations of Yuri looking up at the open sky as she comes to terms with her father’s absence.
Which I understand
that father is always with me
in a little house in my heart
Ms. Otzemko said she aimed for “very simple, childlike explanations” in her book so that children can identify with the pages and parents can find a way to navigate complex emotions with their children.
“It’s essentially a ready-made guide to talking with children about death,” she said.
Books included in this article: “Why isn’t dad at home?” Alina Otzemko (Teacher, 2024); “Why did father die?” Alina Otzemko (Teacher, 2025); “Battle for the City” by Volodymyr Chernyshenko (Artbooks, 2022); “Racon and other heroes” by Yevheniya Zavaliin (“The Old Lion” publishing house, 2024); “Ommm. Spirit of Irpin Forest” by Nataliia Cheredniuk (The Black Sheep, 2023); “A Little Book of Travels. The Armed Forces of Ukraine” by Irina Taranenko, Marta Leshak, and Oleksandr Mykhed (The Old Lion Publishing House, 2025).
