The presentation of art-books from the publisher “Chorni Vivtsi”: It is important to talk to children not only via texts but also via visual means

WATCH IN ENGLISH

Kyiv, November 27, 2015. The first books of the art-publisher for children “Chorni Vivtsi” are “A Rabbit’s Happiness” by Larissa Nitsoy and “In the Realm of a Lion” by Liubov Viduta. The publisher is planning to focus on printing art-books, in which the main emphasis will lie not on texts but on paintings. “I have been teaching painting for several years already and I understand how important it is to talk to children not only via texts but also via visual means. This trend may help children to imagine more, to see and interpret the world in a childlike way,” Hrystia Venhrynyuk, chief editor of “Chorni Vivtsi” explained the idea of the ​​publisher at the presentation of the books at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre.

The books are bilingual (Ukrainian and English). The English translation is simple and it will help children start learning the language. The first edition comprises 2,000 copies. “We will have many similar projects and we will try to publish bilingual books as often as possible,” said Ms. Venhrynyuk.

The painter who works on illustrations and has designed the logo of the publisher in the image of a sheep is Hrystyna Lukashchuk. “We really like her style and this is exactly the modern language we would like to talk to children,” explained Hrystyna Venhrynyuk. She also said that western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi’s name had been encoded in the name “Chorni Vivtsi” (eng. black sheep) – the publisher’s name. The legend on the foundation of the city narrates that long ago when the city did not yet exist. The people who came to that area wanted to settle down there and noticed some black sheep on pastures. The Ukrainian name of the city was created by joining these two words.

In the near future the publishing house is planning to publish an art-book illustrating the verse of Sergii Zhadan “Swim, Fish, Swim.” According to the author “it is always nice to try out something new, it is nice to take distance from the general line.” As the president of the International Literary corporation Meridian Czernowitz Sviatoslav Pomerantsev have pointed out, this verse was chosen after the joke had appeared that it was so popular that deserved a separate book. He said that the idea to publish art-books appeared in his team because “we can do more than just publish our authors or organise festivals.” The next step is a series of poems by Yuri Andrukhovych “India” as well as collections of poetry by Anatolii Dnistrovyi, works of Irena Tsilyk, Irena Karpa, etc. Moreover, there is a plan to translate the tales of Erwin Moser.

Some books will be published in two versions: illustrations and interpretation for children and texts for adults. The publishing house has plans for the literature for teenagers including the story by a young writer Andriy Tuzhykov. “We will not focus only on well-known authors; we want to work with authors-beginners,” emphasised Hrystyna Venhrynyuk.

During the briefing Sergii Zhadan announced a charity literary evening which will take place on Saturday, November 28th at 5 p.m. in the House of Education and Culture “Master Class” in Kyiv and will be held to support the publicist Sashko Boychenko. Besides Sergii many famous Ukrainian writers such as Yurii Andrukhovych, Taras Prokhasko, Oleksandr Irvanets, Borys and Lyudmila Khersonski, Irena Karpa and many others will take part in the evening. The collected funds will go for the treatment of Sashko Boychenko.