(book review)

Ukraine is currently at war, so there is a lot of literature on the subject. The ‘Yellow Butterfly’ is a children’s book about the war after life by Oleksandr Shatokhin, published by the ‘Old Lion Publishing House.’

The publication conveys all the images through metaphors so that the young reader can understand the severity of the war, even at this age. The butterflies represent what was before the war, like souls, like places that were destroyed by the war. The girl is Ukraine itself, the one who runs away and protests against restrictions and slavery. Meeting butterflies, despite being free and bright, the girl realizes that life will go on, the freedom of a butterfly cannot be limited or destroyed…

Genre: fiction, publication for children. The illustrations are beautifully rendered in black and white and are also filled with metaphors, such as barbed wire. The most striking thing in the pictures is the yellow butterfly itself.

The text is easy to read, the plot is quite poignant, which will not leave the reader alone. Probably, even I, quite an adult person, found it incredibly fascinating to read this book.

This book will appeal to the age group of schoolchildren and older. The author himself indicated the age of 9-12 years, but I believe that kids can read it even earlier. Perhaps Oleksandr Shatokhin specified this age because children will be able to understand the essence of war more deeply. I can also recommend ‘The Yellow Butterfly’ to people who like impressive illustrations, an easy-to-read book. I think children also need to know what is happening in our country and let them understand it through metaphors and images. My rating is 9.5/10.