The Little Book That Could: Reviving a Ukrainian-Canadian Children’s Classic for Humanitarian Aid
By Devon Arthur

When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in early 2022, people around the world found themselves searching for ways to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and support those in need. For Calgary-based publisher Lorene Shyba of Durville Publications, activism came in the form of books, perhaps unsurprisingly. Shyba turned to her own Ukrainian Canadian roots, reviving a classic Ukrainian children’s book her baba (grandmother) read to her in childhood to raise funds for humanitarian efforts.

In March 2022, Durville Publications released The Little Book: Story Reader for a Free Ukraine, with proceeds donated to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation. A slim paperback of just over a hundred pages, The Little Book is an anthology of poems, stories, and lessons in Ukrainian and English. The book’s publication generated media attention across Canada. As of September 2022, sales from The Little Book had raised $26 500 CAD.

ПЕРША КНИЖЕЧКА (The First Little Book) was originally published in 1932 at the Basilian Fathers Monetary in Khovkva, near Lviv, Ukraine. This first edition was also born in a time of conflict. Its release coincided with the Holodomor (1932–1933), the genocidal famine engineered by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin that killed millions of Ukrainians. In the 1940s, a second edition of The Little Book was published in Winnipeg, Canada. This updated version was edited by Mykola Matwijszus, with ink drawings by O. Kurelas. It was newly revised to serve as a language reader for the Ukrainian Canadian diaspora, with recurring references to heritage, customs, and duty to the “old country”. It was widely adopted as an educational text in Ukrainian language classrooms in prairie schools. 

It is the 1940s version that serves as the base text for Durville Publication’s 2022 Special Humanitarian Edition of The Little Book. This new dual-language version features parallel text in Ukrainian and English, with translation by Dr. Magda Stroinska, a linguistics and languages professor at McMaster University, and Volodymyr Shyba.

The Little Book is a significant text – and not only for the impressive revenue, but its publication has also generated for humanitarian aid. It offers insight into the lives of Ukrainian Canadians in the past, particularly the construction of Ukrainian Canadian childhood. It also speaks to the linguistic and cultural priorities of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.   

The Little Book is unusual by today’s children’s book standards. As a language reader, it was intended to serve a child from early literacy through to upper elementary years and beyond. The book begins with a guide to the Ukrainian alphabet and pronunciation. Its contents range from alphabetic phrases and short sentences aimed at early readers (“This is Mommy, this is Daddy, and this is us”) to much more descriptive narratives and poems. The finely detailed ink illustrations throughout depict predominantly domestic scenes: children playing, reading, eating, and doing chores.

In the introduction to The Little Book, Shyba reflects on the challenges of adding English text to a book originally printed in only Ukrainian. “We didn’t have room for every paragraph of the original text – the English translations took up space too,” she writes, “That’s where technology comes in handy.” There are QR codes integrated throughout the book that link readers to extra material (“Scan this QR code for the Ukrainian translation of this paragraph”), as well as tips for pronunciation and additional Ukrainian phrases. This unconventional approach pushes the boundaries of translation, although it also limits access to the text.

As language is constantly evolving, translating a historic text for modern audiences comes with its own unique challenges. In an interview with Quill & Quire Magazine, translator Magda Stroinska notes the difficulties in translating the language of The Little Book. The original text was written in what she assumes is a Western Ukrainian dialect, “much closer to Polish than modern Ukrainian.” To translate accurately, she solicited support from other linguists and Ukrainian speakers. To this end, The Little Book is perhaps less of a tool to learn Ukrainian as it is a window into the lives of Ukrainian Canadians past.

The themes that run through The Little Book are reflective of the time and place of its 1940s publication. Farming is a recurring theme throughout, conveying the lived experiences of many Ukrainian immigrants on the Canadian prairies. One vignette, titled “Ukrainian Farm”, tells the story of a Ukrainian settlement:

Far away from the city, there is a farm. Our Ukrainian settlers live here. They came from Ukraine, logged the forests, built houses and farm buildings. They cultivated the soil and made it into a fertile field. This is how the Ukrainian farm was established (p. 104).

Stories such as this also underscore the importance of labour and loyalty to Ukraine. Much of The Little Book reinforces a connection between the “homeland” and the children of the diaspora. This is perhaps most obvious in the short story “Ukraine”, in which the narrator waxes nostalgically about the “beautiful country” they have heard about only in stories:

Our Ukraine is big and beautiful. And even though it is far away, I have never stopped loving it. I always think of it. I shall diligently learn the Ukrainian language. And maybe one day I shall travel to Ukraine (p. 108).

Another poem, titled “Little Ukrainian Girl”, recalls Ukraine as “our Mother”. “I would not forget our homeland,” declares its narrator, “though I am still too young, I will keep it in my heart.” (106) Ukraine is upheld in these writings as both a real and imagined place. By retaining their linguistic heritage, the diaspora remains connected through generations. The Little Book emphasises Ukrainian nationalism, keeping the spirit of Ukraine alive following discrimination in Canada during the First World War and the hardships of the 1930s.

As Shyba writes in her introduction, “language represents the mind and spirit of a people”The 1940s edition of The Little Book served the purpose of preserving the Ukrainian language among the Ukrainian Canadian diaspora. The 2022 Special Humanitarian Edition of The Little Book: Story Reader for a Free Ukraine is also a tool for Ukrainian Canadians to connect to their heritage. As a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, The Little Book resonates with me on a personal level. I can’t help but wonder if The First Little Book ever made its way into my great-grandparent’s house in the North End of Winnipeg. Today, my family no longer speaks the language – although my mother was able to take introductory Ukrainian as an elective language course in middle school, something most public schools in Winnipeg had dropped by my own school days.

Reissuing The Little Book at this time of need raised much-needed funds for Ukrainian aid. It also brought new awareness to this forgotten text that occupies a distinctive place in the history of children’s book publishing in Canada. It is my hope that scholars of children’s literature will turn further attention to this material; a comparative study of the three editions of The [First] Little Book would make for a fruitful academic research project, as would a consideration of the book in relation to other readers of its time.

 

Book Details

The Little Book: Story Reader for a Free Ukraine (ПЕРША КНИЖЕЧКА)

Mykola Matwijszuk (ed.) and O. Kurelas (illus.)

Magda Stroinska & Volodymyd Shyba (transl.)

Calgary: Durville Publications, 2022

First published: 2 May 2023

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