Olena Zelenska presents literary project for Ukrainian child refugees

Frankfurt, Germany, Oct 22 (EFE).- Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska and the wife of German President Elke Buedenbender on Saturday presented a literary project at the Frankfurt book fair to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees.

Better Time Stories is a specially designed selection of books donors can purchase for child refugees from Ukraine.

“Language is homeland. Through Better Time Stories, parents who have stayed in Ukraine can still read to their children who are far away,” Zelenska said at the presentation in Frankfurt.

“It’s a chance to give kids a cozy feeling and promote their mental health,” Ukraine’s first lady added.

The stories represent some of Ukraine’s top illustrators and authors and are designed to help children who have fled from the war to cope with their experience.

One of the top issues children are dealing with is separation from primary carers and a QR code on each package offers family members the opportunity to record themselves reading the stories for the children.

According to Unicef, 2 million Ukrainian children are in exile and 2.5 million have been internally displaced since Russia launched its full-blown invasion in February.

The Better Time Stories project was the brainchild of Andriy Shmyhelskyy, whose parents living in Lviv are hosting refugees.

He then partnered the number 5 foundation, established by Dutch Princess Laurentien and Prince Constantijn to bring the Better Times Stories project to life.

Ukraine has been a recurring theme at the Frankfurt book fair and on Saturday, former boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko — brother of Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko — presented a children’s book titled ‘Wil, the conqueror of clouds’, which he wrote in collaboration with his German partner Tatjana Kiel.

“The book is about showing kids how they can make their dreams come true,” Klitschko said.EFE

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