Yulia Olefir always wrote poignant poems, and then she came up with a children’s fairy tale, in which she explained it to Ukrainian children aged 5+ using metaphors and fairy-tale images.. about why many of them had to be evacuated, witness shelling and see destruction in their cities. She also spoke about a mandatory victory and future restoration. The author's debut book is full of faith in the victory of good over evil and carries many important messages to young readers..

Yulia Olefir’s family lived in Kharkov, on Saltovka. Julia is a mother of two boys. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the couple and their sons went to the Kirovograd region, to Yulia’s father. When we were leaving Kharkov along the ring road, the eldest four-year-old son saw bright flashes in the sky due to shelling. “Then we had to lie to the baby, they said it was fireworks,” recalls Yulia.

In the first weeks of the war, various rumors were spread, and due to the risk that the Russians could break through the defenses and go to Zaporozhye and Krivoy Rog, the couple arrived in Lviv, but there was an arrival not far from the apartment where they were staying. Then Julia and the kids went to Lithuania. " The youngest is one year old, the oldest is four. One is vomiting, the other has a fever,” the woman recalls. However, in Lithuania the young mother was convinced that the children were safe. Friends provided a country house for free.

Once a friend wrote to Yulia asking her to come up with a fairy tale for children.. The girl knew that Yulia had a good command of words, so she asked. The fairy tale was ordered by the CEO of the IT company where this girl worked. He really wanted to support the children of his employees and tell them in the form of a fairy tale about the events that were unfolding in the country.

“At first I was even confused,” recalls Yulia, because I had never written anything for children and actually had no skills in creating children’s texts. — But then I myself became interested: how to tell children the age of my sons about Russian aggression, how to clearly and accurately explain the terrible things that kids must experience? How to do this in understandable language, and even in such a way that this story is not traumatic, but therapeutic?

And Julia accepted this challenge.

[see_also ids\u003d"

The characters, like a cartoon, popped into my head - they were raccoons. Names were also born - Morsik (after all, one son is called Myron) and Buttercup (the youngest was born in February, in Ukrainian - fierce). Julia wrote a short story about raccoons and sent it to her friend. Customers from the IT company were delighted. They even paid Yulia a fee. She then thanked and put this story aside. But one evening, putting the children to bed, I read the story to my eldest son..

“There wasn’t a single book in Ukrainian, I started reading this story to my eldest son at night. He was delighted! And asked for continuation. Therefore, I continued to come up with new and new adventures of raccoons, and my son was looking forward to the next part. This is how the manuscript “The Kazkov Forest” came together. Help the beshketnik raccoons,” says Yulia.

So, all the events of the book take place in a fairytale forest.. The childhood of the raccoon brothers Morsik and Buttercup is full of crazy adventures and exciting discoveries.. Disturb a bee's nest, go on a trip, despite the parents' prohibition, and figure out who drew the rainbow.. What could be more interesting But when trouble comes to the Fairytale Forest, the brothers and mother were forced to leave their home and go on a long journey.. The hot climate, unusual food and unfamiliar language become a real challenge for raccoons..

[see_also ids\u003d"

Short stories are interconnected and united by the events that the characters experience. From time to time, raccoons receive both experience and important messages aimed at forming correct ideas about the world and virtues.

“That’s good,” said the father.. “And remember: when you come to someone else’s territory and destroy someone else’s property, you will always be punished, because you can’t do that.”!

“I’ll remember,” the raccoon said ashamedly..

The author of the fairy tale also touches on the painful topic of losing a home..

“Dad, dad,” the raccoon did not stop, “but what about those who lost their home?”? Where should they live

— Morsik, we will definitely build new houses for them! Don't worry! And remember: a house is not just an oak tree on the lawn of the Fairytale Forest. Home is where all the people you love are. Home is where your heart is.

And emphasizes that good always triumphs over evil.

“This pine is also called fire pine,” said the father, “because its cones are tightly covered with resin.”. They need very high temperatures to open.. Do you see how many of these pine trees there are They all grew up after a terrible forest fire. Our forest will definitely become even better, even greener, we just have to wait. Very soon we will plant many young trees. Sometimes bad things happen even to good animals, but the main thing is that good always wins!

At the end of the fairy tale - Victory! News of her comes in the form of snowdrops that have bloomed.

- I was wrong about something else, Dad.. Remember, I said that our forest is no longer fairy-tale? This is wrong! Our forest is beautiful, and I am so happy to live here. And you were right, dad, after the hurricane it became even more beautiful, and our residents are even stronger friends and help each other all the time!

And outside the window the leaves were circling faster and faster, informing residents that a real golden autumn had come to the revived Fairytale Forest..

However, the story of turning Julia’s manuscript into a book is not so cloudless and easy. She is not a professional writer and has no experience working with a publishing house, because she published her poems in small editions in samizdat. The young mother had no idea how the publishing industry worked. Naively hoping for favorable reviews, I sent the entire “raw” text of the manuscript to several publishing houses and received a refusal from some to publish.

[see_also ids\u003d"

But she continued her search and came across the young Chernivtsi publishing house “Chorni Vivtsi”. They said that the manuscript is not bad, but needs improvement, and, they say, the publishing house does not currently have the necessary funding for this book.. They offered to publish samizdat and announced the cost of publishing the book. She didn't have that kind of money.

Yulia decided to ask for at least editorial criticism, because she understood that the text was still very imperfect. This is how correspondence began, and then friendship with the co-founder of the children's art publishing house “Chornі Vіvtsi” Kristina Vengrinyuk. Christina carefully studied the text, she really liked the story. And when the editor found out under what circumstances this book was written, she said: “I can’t let you go like this.”. I’ll convene the publishing council and we’ll think about what to do about it.”.

We decided to improve the text. Christina gave her edits and comments, Yulia edited. The text of the fairy tale became clearer and more logical, and the necessary meanings were highlighted.

The young author also took several consultations on writing from the Ukrainian writer Tais Zolotkovskaya. As a result, the entire publishing house was proud of the manuscript, and the fairy tale was published!

[see_also ids\u003d"

Julia took on the promotion and sale of her debut children's book with incredible tenacity.. This is where her Instagram comes in handy. The writer made a touching video story about the history of the birth of the book “Kazkovsky Forest”. Help the raccoons-beshketniks" Of course, the publishing house “Chorni Vivtsi” placed a certain edition of the book in Ukrainian bookstores in different regions, but you can also purchase the fairy tale through the author’s blog.

People willingly buy a book with the author’s autograph, because it is a true, poignant and encouraging story about what every Ukrainian child experiences.. Almost 6 thousand copies of “The Benefits of Beshketnik Enots” have already been sold..

Julia received an order to continue the story. And I’ve already turned in the manuscript for a Christmas story—an illustrator is working on it. The third part of the adventures of the raccoons has also been agreed upon.

Yulina's fairy tale about gnomes working in a supermarket should be published in the spring, as well as a book for teenage girls.

A woman jokes that she has already finally “decided” who she wants to be after two decrees. From a pharmacist, she retrained into a successful children's writer, who now creates masterpieces in her parents' house in Kremenchug, but dreams of returning with her family to her cozy home in Kharkov's Saltovka. Her sons say: “A real golden autumn has come to the revived Fairytale Forest, and the raccoons have returned home. And that means we will be back"