The children’s book Gerard the Partisan is one of 350 titles released last year by Ukraine’s Vivat Publishing.Anna Liminowicz/The Globe and Mail
Millions of children in Ukraine have loved reading about the adventures of Detective Gerard, a pudgy guinea pig who solves mysteries such as “who ate the cat’s breakfast?” with his animal friends. But in the latest instalment of the storybooks, the furry sleuth takes on a far more menacing challenge: how to beat the Russian army.
As Russian tanks descend on Gerard’s village, the detective and his trusty helpers – a mouse army and two cats – start chewing through wires inside the armoured vehicles and defacing the windows. The story ends in victory when Gerard finds a grenade and tosses it into a tank.
Gerard the Partisan is among the 350 books released last year by Ukraine’s Vivat Publishing Ltd., which has managed to continue operating despite the war. The company plans to publish 400 books this year – and for those who work there, Vivat has become far more than a business.
“Now we publish a lot of books about the war because it’s our mission as a publishing house and my mission,” said Yuliya Orlova, Vivat’s managing director. “Our books are for Ukrainian people who grieve for Ukraine.”
Seven-year-old Vlada Boiko and her mother Olena Rybka fled Kharkiv to Warsaw after the Russian invasion started last February. Ms. Rybka is deputy chief editor of Ukraine’s Vivat Publishing.Anna Liminowicz/The Globe and Mail
The publisher, which is based in Kharkiv, had to shut down immediately after the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022. Many of the roughly 100 staff fled to cities across Europe. Orlova and Olena Rybka, the deputy chief editor, went to Warsaw, Poland.
The hiatus didn’t last long. Orlova said everyone at Vivat felt a duty to start releasing books again and by May the company was up and running. The initial priority was boosting the online content, but Orlova also wanted to make sure that Ukrainians had books they could hold in their hands.
Vivat’s printing operation in Kharkiv was damaged by Russian shelling but it still managed to keep operating. Orlova found additional printers in Kyiv and western Ukraine and sourced supplies of paper, an expensive commodity in Ukraine. She also lined up a distribution network and even opened a store in Kyiv last October – the company’s fourth outlet, although one in Kharkiv has been forced to close because of bombing.
“When we opened our book store in Kyiv we had about 2,000 visitors in one day,” she said. “Because for people in Kyiv, to open a bookstore – it was a victory. It was very important.”
Keeping the store open hasn’t been easy, given the constant shelling and power cuts. But every day that someone can come in and buy a book, “is hope for people,” Orlova said.
Olena Rybka, left, and Yuliya Orlova have managed to keep Ukraine’s Vivat Publishing operating despite the war by working from Warsaw. Ms. Rybka and Ms. Orlova, managing director, fled Kharkiv when the war started along with roughly 100 staff.Anna Liminowicz/The Globe and Mail
Olena Rybka and her daughter Vlada now live in Warsaw, where Ms. Rybka edits manuscripts for publication.Anna Liminowicz/The Globe and Mail
To keep everything going, she and Rybka spend their days glued to their cellphones and laptops. Rybka edits manuscripts from the dining-room table of her flat in central Warsaw while Orlova keeps in touch from her apartment on the outskirts of town. “We live with the telephone, eat with the telephone, sleep with the telephone,” Orlova said.
The makeshift formula seems to be working. Orlova said that last year Vivat sold two million books even though the cover price – between US$10 and US$15 – can be expensive for many Ukrainians. The rights to many texts have also been sold in 30 countries.
No one at the company is tallying the profits; Orlova believes there’s much more at stake than a good balance sheet. “It’s not only for money, it’s about Ukraine. It’s about people.”
She has made bold decisions before. In 2014, Vivat stopped publishing books in Russian because of Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea. It was a costly move since millions of Vivat’s readers speak Russian as their first language and the company had a catalogue of Russian-language texts. For Orlova, who was born in Russia, opposing the annexation trumped any financial concerns. “Language is very important for Ukraine,” she said. ”I speak Russian better than Ukrainian, but now I choose the Ukrainian language as a base and in life speak only in Ukrainian.”
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Vivat publishes a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. Its latest releases include War Dictionary, a collection of stories about the first day of the war. The company has also published manuscripts by Ukrainian authors who turned in their work before heading to the front line.
Children’s books have a special place at Vivat. Rybka said the company takes pains not to hide the reality of the war from young readers, but not to traumatize them either. She works with a child psychologist to ensure that the books strike the right balance. “We know that our children feel stress and we don’t want our books to add to their stress,” she said. “But also these books represent the Ukrainian experience for children.”
For example, she said the Gerard book shows children that even something as small as a mouse or a guinea pig can do extraordinary things.
Gerard the Partisan tells the story of a popular guinea pig detective, who takes on Russian invaders with his mouse army and two cats.Anna Liminowicz/The Globe and Mail
Another children’s book called The Holiday I Had to Take by Kateryna Yehorushkina tells the story of the first few days of the war through the eyes of a young girl named Vira who keeps a diary.
Vira describes airplanes roaring, missiles swishing and how she hid in the bathroom on Feb. 24 with her parents and baby brother. “It’s now too dangerous to sleep at home,” she says in one of the entries, which are accompanied by vivid illustrations. “A missile has recently hit the playground next to our house. Dad said the occupiers want to throw us back into the past.”
The book ends with tips from a child psychologist, including activities children can try to help them cope.
In an opening note to her “brave readers,” Yehorushkina writes that she got the idea for the book when her eight-year-old daughter began asking questions after missiles started falling near their house.
Rybka said many Ukrainians can relate to the story, which has been translated into several languages. She left Kharkiv with her seven-year-old daughter, Vlada, shortly after the war broke out. Her husband had to stay behind in Kharkiv and the family connects as much as possible online.
She and her daughter have tried to make Warsaw feel like home. They celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25, in keeping with western Europe, but she kept her Christmas tree up until Jan. 7, which is the date most Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia recognize.
“All people in Ukraine have some problems,” she said. “But we are strong. And we will have a fantastic celebration when Ukraine is victorious.”