Our spotlight on Ukrainian children’s literature continues with the charming and inspirational Stars & Poppy Seeds by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv. Published for the first time in 2014, this book quickly captured attention at the Bologna Book Fair, garnering an Opera Prima special mention. Since 2019, the book has been available in English, translated by frequent collaborator - and fellow author - Oksana Lushchevska and published by Tate Publishing.

Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv were born in Lviv, Ukraine in 1984. They studied at the Lviv National Art Academy. Together, the husband-and-wife duo form an Art Studio Agrafka, collaborating on books and other projects. The pair have been members of PEN Ukraine since 2019 and currently live and work in Lviv, Ukraine where their studio is based.

Their work has enjoyed significant critical success, earning numerous accolades. Building on the achievements of Stars & Poppy Seeds, their book, How War Changed Rondo (2015/2022) received a Bologna Ragazzi Special Mention in 2015. Loudly, Softly, in a Whisper (2017/2018) won the Bologna Ragazzi Award for Non-Fiction and a Plaque at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava. Additionally, they have appeared numerous times on the White Ravens lists over the past decade, with On the Move (2020), their most recent publication to achieve this feat. Their books have been translated into several languages around the world, with How War Changed Rondo, in particular, available in 15 languages.

Stars & Poppy Seeds follows a young girl called Flora who loves to count more than anything in the world. She counts animals, poppy seeds, trees, buttons, and peppercorns. Flora’s imagination grows as she contemplates the number of grains of sand in the world’s deserts and the droplets of water in the oceans. One night, she sets herself the task of counting every star in the sky. However, she finds herself disappointed, unable to complete this monumental task, despite her vast knowledge of numbers, mathematical formulae, and equations. Her mother reassures her, telling her that she can accomplish anything she wants as long as she starts with small steps. In this wonderful picturebook, Romanyshyn and Lesiv blur the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, art and science, learning and play.

Romanyshyn and Lesiv’s narrative highlights the importance of persistence, signalled by an opening epigraph from Albert Einstein: “You never fail until you stop trying”. This sentiment is echoed by Flora’s mother in the book’s final message, as she tells her she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. The idea of taking “one step” towards your goal is visualised by Flora playing hopscotch while wearing a dress made from constellations. This contrasts with the previous spread, which dazzles the reader with a barrage of numbers and shapes, reflecting how Flora feels overwhelmed. This relationship between text and images, where the illustrations and colour palette greatly enhance what is being described in the text, is a staple of this book. Throughout the picturebook, Romanyshyn and Lesiv employ a mixed media collage, treating the reader to a captivating variety of styles, from detailed maps of constellations to child-like drawings of animals and plants, crafting a window into Flora’s inner world. Even the endpapers are carefully designed to point toward the scientific world and convey the mathematical precision that is part of Flora’s life.

Flora’s love of learning is the primary thrust of the narrative as we follow her counting excursions, interspersed with her creativity and play. Her actions leap from writing mathematical formulae to drawing portraits of her bunny, Pythagoras, mapped out in poppy seeds. As she walks through the park and the city, the reader sees the extent of her imagination, realised in detailed and playful illustrations. Flora connects with her subject matter, imagining herself as a network of foliage or as the city she navigates. Romanyshyn and Lesiv conjure up memories of children’s activities and reference books; a cross-section of Flora’s body contains a depiction of the city viewed from multiple perspectives, whilst an image of a hand adds a maze which encapsulates the city’s labyrinthine streets from a child’s perspective.

Flora’s creativity, imagination, and love of counting flourish in a supportive environment, as Flora grows up surrounded by numbers and figures in her life as a result of her mathematician parents. The end of the book sees Flora’s mother encourage her to persist, giving her advice which respects her agency and allows her to make full use of her abilities. This respect for childhood is reflected throughout the narrative as adults are absent from the book’s images, with her parents appearing only as photographs and her mother as a voice in the text. Indeed, Flora’s actions conclude the story as she puts her mother’s advice into practice, counting animals and falling asleep to dream of trillions of stars. 

Rather than discouraging Flora’s efforts to complete an impossible task, her mother guides her toward a philosophy which empowers her and encourages her curiosity. Counting every star may be impossible, but from a child’s point of view, it is not. Flora’s supportive mother encourages her learning and utopian goals, rather than asking her to restrict herself to the limitations imposed by adulthood and the expectations one develops over time as a result of encountering life’s obstacles and learning about the innumerable problems of the world. Flora is a reminder of the limitless potential of childhood, where everything seems possible before one encounters the logic of adulthood. In Flora’s eyes, there is no reason why one cannot count both stars and poppy seeds.

These messages speak to multiple audiences, encouraging child readers to pursue their dreams, however impossibly large they may appear, while also reminding adult readers not to limit their child’s horizons. Informative pages at the end are in the same style and colour scheme as the main text, encouraging children to continue reading. They aim to inspire children to take their interests in mathematics further, providing interesting facts, brief biographies of famous mathematicians, and a list of museums to visit. These pages not only encourage further research but may also result in children planning educational trips with their families, inviting them to explore the world of science beyond the page. The main text is filled with connections and starting points which reward readers who want to go beyond the book to pursue their interests. It is not necessary to know why Flora’s rabbit is named Pythagoras or why her neighbour’s cat is called Newton, but informed readers may be entertained by these details. Similarly, the vastly detailed illustrations contain mathematical formulae, constellations, solar system diagrams and maps which can be poured over and investigated on subsequent re-readings, providing a reading experience for a range of ages and interests.

Book Details

Stars and Poppy Seeds

Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv (auth./illust.)

London: Tate, 2014

First published: 13 June 2023

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