A book by Hryhoriy Falkovych, Lviv: Stary Lev, 2023; illustrated by Iryna Potapenko, translated from Ukrainian by Victor Fet; published by Oleg Fedorov Publishing House, Kyiv, 2024.
Rudy and the Milky Way was recognized in Ukraine as the best children's book of 2023.
Review:
An endearing, engaging, and compelling book for children that resonates deeply with adults. Written in the verse of eleven related poems, and illustrated by the organic and sweeping artistry of Iryna Potapenko, Rudy and the Milky Way invites us into Rudy’s migratory world, and by extension, the courage of his people caught in the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine which began in February 2022. The poems speak to every day experiences transformed into existential triumphs given the context of war – the public spaces of his western host town Kolomyia, to which Rudy fled with his family from the big city of Kyiv. It invites readers to the grim, grey, close protection of the bomb shelters (along with an array of animal friends). The poetry speaks to the longing of television shows, the triumph of putting lunch on the table and the dogs who are not so fortunate, the scents and visual delights of a community market, and meeting other cats, dogs, and birds in the park. The poetry then explores, in deceptively innocent language, the existential challenges of life, especially life where tomorrow is not guaranteed, yielding attention to the arrival of a new baby, making spiritual sense of the senselessness of war, and a final dreamscape of a night flight to safety and peace. The poem’s illustrations are simultaneously crisp and impressionistic, immediate and expansive. Likewise, the medium of poetry, so central to Ukrainian culture, is beautifully translated into English by Victor Fet. Fet manages not only translates the content but also the meter, rhythm and syntax of the Ukrainian verse into English, he also conveys the paradoxical simplicity and complexity of the survival, courage, and hope of a Jack Russell Terrier and his people. Not only is this a beautiful work on its own, it would also serve as a therapeutic tool to help war- and trauma-affected and displaced youngsters relate to Rudy.
Carol M. Smith, PhD, LPC, NCC, CCTP, Professor
Coordinator, Violence, Loss and Trauma Certificate
COEPD Trauma Task Force Marshall University
