FREEDOM PANCAKES FOR UKRAINE

Psychotherapist Cohn presents an illustrated children’s book, based on real events, about the impact of the war in Ukraine on children.

The author presents a tale of two children’s experiences during the Ukraine conflict. First, readers meet Artem, a Ukrainian boy who flees with his mother to Poland for safety while his father stays behind to fight. Artem and his mother arrive in Przemysl and are soon transported to the Welcoming Center, a shopping-mall-turned-refugee-shelter. There, the boy befriends Paolo, a World Central kitchen volunteer who comforts him with familiar foods, such as potato pancakes, dumplings, and cabbage rolls. Meanwhile, in the United States, a young American girl named Hannah learns about the war and feels concern for Ukrainian children. She decides to raise money for World Central Kitchen by selling potato pancakes, inspired by the Ukrainian dish deruny and the latkes that Hannah ate at her friend Merrill’s Hannukah celebration. Hannah and Merrill make treats dubbed “freedom pancakes” and put them in plastic bags tied with yellow and blue ribbons. The next day, the friends set up a stand on Hannah’s front lawn and sell the pancakes to neighbors, classmates, and church friends, raising “a great deal of money.” Meanwhile, Paolo shares special fruit pouches with Artem, who, in turn, shares one with a new arrival at the Welcoming Center before heading off with his mother to live with a Polish family. Cohn’s story explores community and empathy in a story that offers a heartwarming and gentle way to discuss the war in Ukraine with children. However, some passages may be difficult for some youngsters to understand without more context, as when Hannah thinks about how Hannukah “tells the story of the Maccabees—Jewish freedom fighters—who were victorious in liberating the Jewish people from their Syrian rulers.” Also, some adults may find that the narrative frames a complex humanitarian crisis in somewhat simplistic terms. Ukrainian artist Holubiatnikova’s watercolors evoke the Ukrainians’ intense emotions during trying times and reflect her own firsthand experience working in a war zone.

A sentimental and affecting story about a connection between children of different cultures.