Ukrainian picture book was featured in NYT List of the Best Children’s Books 2023

The Ukrainian picture book “Who Will Make the Snow?” by Taras and Marjana Prokhasko has been recognized among the most notable 18 children’s books of 2023. The selection was made by NYT children’s books editor Jennifer Krauss.

Originally published by The Old Publishing House (Ukraine) in 2013 as part of a trilogy, the book was later included in The White Ravens catalog. This work marks the first children’s book by renowned Ukrainian writer Taras Prokhasko and the debut illustration experience of Mariana Prokhasko. It garnered success in Ukraine and internationally with translations into Spanish, Persian, Latvian, Slovak, and Czech.

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The book was released on Dec 12. “Who Will Make the Snow?” is translated by Boris Dralyuk and Jennifer Croft, published by Elsewhere Editions, a children’s imprint from Archipelago Books dedicated to translating imaginative picture books worldwide.

“Originally published in Ukraine, this sweet, strange, lightly philosophical book, illustrated with soft, scribbly drawings, features newborn twin moles who live in a whimsically imagined woodland community. The title comes from the moles’ belief that when they die they will rise to the clouds and make the snow for those left behind,” the review by Jennifer Krauss says.

In the other article for NYT “Holiday Gifts for Children,” Cathy Hong writes, “Akin in spirit and tone to A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and Tove Jansson’s Moomin series, its narrative takes its time, stopping to appreciate the changing seasons and everyday moments of cozy family life, all enchantingly illustrated with soft, scribbly drawings. As with Pooh and the Moomins, subtle hints of anxiety, melancholy and even existentialism underpin the cuteness.”

Mariana Prokhasko is a Ukrainian writer and illustrator who achieved significant success in Ukraine with the book “Who Will Make the Snow?” and other books in this series.

Taras Prokhasko is a Ukrainian writer, journalist, and essayist, trained as a biologist. He has received recognition through awards such as the Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski Literary Award, Book of the Year Award (Ukraine), Yuri Shevelov Prize, and the BBC Ukraine Book of the Year Prize. His collection of essays, “Yes, however,” earned him the prestigious National Taras Shevchenko Prize of Ukraine.

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