The war in Ukraine has provoked a huge humanitarian crisis; one of its most evident aspects is the massive influx of refugees, mainly women and children, leaving the country. These people will likely not have been able to take many things with them, and definitely not books.

Tales of EUkraine (TEUk) will address the issue with a solution that will favour the integration of Ukrainian refugees in their host countries, notably by facilitating the inclusion of children and their building relationships with peers from host countries, while supporting the Ukrainian publishing industry.

The project has built a catalogue of Ukrainian children’s books, the rights of which will be made available for licensing to several publishers from various EU Member States currently hosting significant numbers of refugees. The publishers, under the coordination and supervision of the respective national publishers’ associations, will acquire the rights to the books, translate them and publish bilingual editions in Ukrainian and the country’s language. TEUk is expecting to print at least 300,000 books. The publishers’ associations and FEP will acquire the copies produced by the publishers at cost, and organise their distribution, relying on NGOs, voluntary associations, and other entities, to deliver the books to a series of beneficiaries such as schools, libraries and other hubs and venues where they will be made available to their ultimate beneficiaries: Ukrainian refugee children and their peers in the host countries.

Thanks to TEUk, refugee children will be able to both retain a connection with the culture of their home country and share it with their new friends in host countries, thus facilitating their inclusion and increasing the knowledge of Ukrainian culture across Europe. At the same time, the project will support Ukrainian authors, illustrators, and publishers in a time of dire need, facilitating their connection with European publishers.

Tales of EUkraine is a Creative Europe project (101100131 - CREA-CULT-2022-COOP-2). The project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

If you are interested in taking part in Tales of EUkraine, you should get in touch with your publishers' association, mentioning the project and the titles you are interested in producing. You can find the list of already involved PAs here

If you want further information on the titles in the catalogue, you can contact their rightsholders (listed on each title's page) or the Ukrainian Book Institute at [email protected]