STATE COLLEGE — Oksana Lushchevska, a Ukrainian writer living in State College, came across the book “I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker” in early 2022.
The children’s book was written in 1939 by an 8-year-old Polish boy who documented what it was like in Warsaw on the brink of World War II.
“I looked through the book and understood this conversation about the possibility of the war … and I just thought it was a great piece of what history is doing again — all the circles,” Lushchevska said.
Days after finding the book, the Russia-Ukraine war reached a full-scale invasion, and Lushchevska was over 4,800 miles away from her family in Talne, Ukraine.
Two years later, Lushchevska’s children’s book, “Quiet Night, My Astronaut,” was published. The book retells the first 10 days and nights of the Russia-Ukraine war from the perspective of a child.
Lushchevska came to the United States to further her education, receiving her master’s in Russian and comparative literature at Penn State and her doctorate in children’s literature and reader’s response at the University of Georgia. She was drawn to State College because it’s similar to her hometown in Ukraine.
Before writing the book, Lushchevska said she was unsure of sharing experiences from the war without being in the country.
“My family is in Ukraine, all my friends are in Ukraine, my colleagues are in Ukraine, but I am far away,” Lushchevska said. “Who am I to write a book about the first 10 days and nights of war?”
It wasn’t until she heard other Ukrainians encouraging those who were safe to create and write whatever they could that she decided to pen her book.
The children’s book uses stories from her family and friends, who shared their stories while hiding in bomb shelters. Lushchevska said she would check in on them every hour.
“(The book) is not about struggling and being scared,” Lushchevska said. “It’s about being with your own people. … We always need support in dark times. We always need a light in the dark times, and we always need to believe. Whatever you believe, we always need it.”
In the story, the child believes in a higher power watching over her to keep her safe.
Rather than focusing on a god or another specific spirit, Lushchevska was inspired by a note from her friend about NASA astronauts.
“If I am a child, I would believe that there is something up there,” Lushchevska said, “something in space that can observe us … something that can bring us more bravery, more strength.”
Since her book’s publishing in early February of this year, Lushchevska said she’s received mostly positive feedback — especially from readers in Ukraine.
“Every kid should have the possibility to read something which will provide them with … a kind of psychological relief and knowing that you aren’t alone,” she said.
According to Lushchevska, there was a larger reason for the book’s childish tone, outside of it being a children’s book.
“Kids are usually open to talk about serious topics; adults are not,” she said. “They want to be curious about the world, and they understand how interconnected we are.”
“Quiet Night, My Astronaut” can be purchased through special order at The Squirrel & Acorn Bookshop in downtown State College, Barnes and Noble, Walmart or Amazon.
