Authors

Discussion

The paper examines contemporary Ukrainian children’s literature as a space where war is narrated through the experiences of the youngest—moving from a sense of loss and disorientation to the gradual recovery of voice and agency. The narrative begins with the home—a safe and familiar space of childhood—which, with the outbreak of war, undergoes a sudden deconstruction and is transformed into a cellar, bunker, or metro corridor. Such places become material carriers of trauma, inscribed in the memory of the body and emotions.

Against this backdrop emerges the figure of boundaries—both real and symbolic—that mark rites of passage and initiations into new life. These are accompanied by silence, fear, and physical symptoms of trauma. Yet children’s literature does not remain fixed on images of rupture: it also points to strategies of overcoming crisis. The recovery of voice in conditions of safety, the presence of affective objects, and family or communal rituals open up a perspective of hope.

These texts perform a bibliotherapeutic function, supporting not only children but also their surroundings in coping with traumatic experiences and in building empathy. The narratives demonstrate that the experience of war, although marked by suffering, may also become an impulse for transformation and the discovery of new resources—from the strength of community to the possibility of reconstructing identity.

Thus, children’s literature creates a path from fear to hope, showing that even in the context of war it is possible to find a language of storytelling that not only documents trauma but also opens a space for imagination, empathy, and renewal.