Stories from a Farther-Off Land

Ola Kravchenko’s cycle of legends recalls the taste of children’s literature from before the days of the oppressive censorship of the politically correct. Ola’s legends are wounded, gloomy. At times they read like an underground radio broadcast smuggled out of the desert island of childhood. When Bertrand Russell was asked to summarize Freud’s doctrine in one sentence, he sighed and said, “It’s so hard to be a child!”.

Ola’s haunting stories relate this struggle: the story of the violent kidnapping that adults call “growing up,” the pain of encountering the world with its unfolding fan of terrors, and the heroic human attempt to capture these fears in a word or an image.

This is not a conventional children’s book. It tells of abandoned palaces, destroyed kingdoms, and girls whose childhood was
devastated. It dives into the abyss, and from its depths, it reflects the stars. It touches childhood with an honesty and boldness
that we—children and adults alike—need as much as the air we breathe. The stories are accompanied by breathtaking illustrations
painted by the author.