This paper examines how children’s handwriting, drawings, and other forms of visual expression are integrated into the design and narrative of contemporary war-related fiction, with a focus on Ukrainian publications responding to the Russo-Ukrainian war. In world literature, particularly in children’s and young adult fiction, there exists a longstanding tradition of incorporating children’s voices not only through narration but also through visual means, such as doodles, diary-style pages, or hand-drawn elements, which serve as extensions of the narrative voice and markers of authenticity.

In the Ukrainian context, this approach gains particular relevance amid ongoing war, where children’s testimonies and creative expressions have become both a record of trauma and a means of resilience. Since the start of Russian aggression in 2014, many Ukrainian children’s books addressing the war have adopted the diary form, written from a child’s perspective and often accompanied by imitations of children’s drawings. More recent trends, however, point toward the inclusion of authentic children’s artworks and letters as integral components of book design and storytelling.

The paper analyses several representative cases: Life Is for You… (Zhyttia – Tobі…), a publication emerging from a literary-artistic competition reflecting children’s understanding of national events; the paired volumes Letters to the War: Children Write to Soldiers and Letters from the War: Soldiers Write to Children, which use authentic correspondence to bridge the civilian and military spheres; The ABC of War (Abetka Viiny), structured as an alphabetic dialogue between a soldier and his daughter; and We Were Here (Tut Buly My) by Artur Dron, a poetry collection illustrated among other elements with children’s handwriting.

Methodologically, the study combines visual-narrative analysis with elements of book design criticism, exploring how material aspects – actual handwriting, layout, typographic imitation of children’s writing, and collage composition – shape the emotional and cognitive completion of wartime narratives. It argues that these hybrid visual-textual strategies function not only as aesthetic devices but also as an additional expressive layer, emphasising the coexistence of vulnerability and resilience in wartime communication.

From a book design perspective, handwriting and drawings serve several interconnected functions: as voice (representation of a child’s perspective), as artefact (evidence of lived experience), as visual narration (sequential or symbolic imagery), and as emotional texture (through hand-rendered typography or illustration). These strategies highlight the materiality of children’s expression, merging literary and visual storytelling to capture the immediacy and sincerity of the child’s experience of war.