Beloved Ukrainian Children’s Author Vsevolod Nestayko Would Be 89

Leonila, 10, reads her favorite book “In the Land of Sunbeams,” written by Vsevolod Nestayko – one of the most prominent children’s authors. His works are now part of many children’s school program.

Leonila loves Nestayko’s books for his unusual characters and their amazing adventures.

“This book is about a boy who found out about the land of sunbeams and managed to get there,” she said.

Vsevolod Nestayko wrote over four dozen books. Among them “Toreadors from Vasyukivka” about the adventures of two village boys is the most popular.

“It’s been translated into 20 different languages. This book is loved and enjoyed by many generations. This is because he wrote the way he thought. He wrote about the things the way they happen in real life. That’s why it’s so captivating,” an employee of the National Children’s Library said.

In 1965 the book received a film adaptation. The movie found international acclaim and was awarded the Grand Prix of the Munich Film Festival and many others.

Nestayko was born in 1930 in the Zhytomyr region. His father was arrested by the Soviet regime in 1933 and died in a concentration camp. Nestayko’s friends say, despite living through the Holodomor and the Nazi occupation he managed to retain a “light in his heart.”

“Nestayko is a good example of a wonderful and kind writer also being a wonderful person. Not only is his writing funny, but he also was a great storyteller in everyday life. And regardless of the age, young or old, he addressed people calling them ‘sunshine,'” Publisher Ivan Malkovych, of the A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ga publishing house said.

Malkovych knew Nestayko personally. His novel “Adventures of the Crane” was one of the first books that Malkovych was entrusted with as a young editor. They became friends and worked together from then on.

“If these smiles generated by Vsevolod Nestayko and all these children’s joy was somehow transformed into some kind of light, this energy of joy and laughter would be enough to light Ukraine up for a very long time,” Malkovych said.

Nestayko died in 2014 at the age of 85. And up until his last days, he continued to edit and update his works, removing details that wouldn’t be understood by today’s children while adding new storylines to his masterpiece.