A timely book that highlights beautiful parts of Ukrainian culture and traditions! My younger brother is Ukrainian and has been devastated by the constant recent news of horrendous acts of war happening there. I will share "Finding Freedom" with him. This book is full of light and the joy of being Ukrainian in a time when the world needs to see that. It is also wonderful to see that the publisher will be donating to the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation in Ukraine.

Finding Freedom by Maryna Kariuk is a much needed book for what is happening in the world. Finding Freedom shares the Ukrainian pride Ukrainians feel for their country and their culture. It is a beautifully written and illustrated story and I loved reading it and learning about Ukraine. This book would be perfect for any type of story time. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My review is also on Goodreads.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Received for review: I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not obligated to write a good review, nor did I receive any compensation for writing this review.

Why did I decide to turn the pages? The title and illustration struck my interest, as did the subject matter.

My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: The illustrations are gorgeous. That cannot be understated. This book is also created in a way that readers can learn a lot about Ukraine quickly through interesting pictures, rhymes, and illustrations.

However, the glossary and pronunciation guide would be mandatory for those who have less familiarity with Ukraine. For parents wanting to read to younger children, they would likely need to read ahead of time and consult the glossary so they could seamlessly teach and read with their kids.

However, somewhat older readers would likely enjoy and be fine with reading and using the glossary. For families who enjoy cooking meals from other cultures, they could likely read this one and then make some Ukrainian food together.

The message is simple, timely, and a great one to teach new young readers about the plight of Ukraine.

I enjoyed it. And if all else fails, the illustrations are gorgeous.

So why 3.5 stars? While I did enjoy it, I marked it a 3.5 simply because of the need for glossary for many readers. But I did enjoy it.

Pages: about 36.

Simply stunning illustrations! This amazing book showcases the strength and beauty of Ukraine; as well as showcasing many of the cultural and historical significance.

The illustrations in this picture book are absolutely radiant, and I greatly enjoyed them. The text is mainly for people who are already highly familiar with Ukranian history and culture, however, and the insider perspective makes this not work as an educational resource. The notes in the back explain everything and give pronunciation information, but it's too dense for most parents to read and explain to children. I would mainly recommend this for the art, and to people who have an existing background with Ukraine.

A beautifully illustrated book showing the strength, love, and beauty of Ukraine. It is a nice book if you want to introduce Ukraine to younger kids. The story follows a young child as she introduces different parts of Ukrainian life including food, nature, and other parts of Ukraine.

This is the story of a young girl realizing her people are glooming and struggling to find their freedom. She then tells everything about the beauty of Ukraine’s nature and culture, concluding that freedom is everywhere, and people are freedom.

There are Ukrainian words used in the text, however, there is also a glossary at the end explaining each. The illustrations are lovely and follow the narration perfectly, helping to understand the story.

This book is a very beautiful tool for teaching children about freedom.

I rate it 5 out of 5 stars and recommend this read to all children aged 3 to 5 eager to learn about freedom or struggling to understand its importance.

Beautifully written and illustrated. I can see this book would be very useful in many contexts, e.g. anyone beginning a new situation in their life, especially refugees and those moving to new countries and environments. The rhyming worked well in this book and the illustrations matched perfectly.
I can see this book in many classrooms as a welcome and empathy laden book.

This will be a great book to add to my classroom as it explores many aspects of Ukrainian culture. It would allow a student to share things about their culture that would prompt positive memories and storytelling. It defines freedom in many different ways.

This is a terrific rhyming book for children young and old. It tells of the beautiful culture and some of the language of the Ukraine. It tells of how this will go on even though they are going through a terrible war. From the beauty of the land to the celebrations you will want to read more about the Ukraine. I like the fact that it has a glossary in the back to help with pronunciation and definitions of the Ukrainian words. The illustrations are not only beautiful, but also very appealing and colorful.

A book that looks absolutely brilliant, but preaches to the converted. It's a hymn to the joy, freedom, landscapes, food and family relationships you get in Ukraine – or would do without that silly little man next door invading – but in that it includes so many names for traditional dishes, and other terms, that we just get confused as to what is what, and the glossary turns up as a belated info-dump. This is a kind of "the kids are united and will never be divided" message that addresses the Ukrainians so well with that message, that it becomes too obscure and hard to understand for everyone else. And yes, almost a sham. It needed to be able to tell the outside world about the sterling qualities of the country (one for which I have eight entry stamps in my passport, just so you know), but in being incomprehensible to the newcomer it only confirms what the Ukrainians already know. That said, it is for charity – and all that said, I would not hesitate one whole second about employing the artist here for her craft. She was not alone in producing this, however, and I can't pretend it's worth more than three and a half stars.

This is a beautiful book, which I plan to purchase for myself. I’m a little wary to have it in the classroom…I believe age and the clientele (students and parents) would play a factor. However, given the right mix of students I feel it could deliver a very powerful message.
The illustrations were stunning and I loved the poetic flow. The author touched on aspects of Ukrainian culture and shared more about Ukraine and its traditions in the back of the book in a glossary and author’s note.
This book offers a very powerful message current with the times. Very well done.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. Review will be posted on my instagram @lizzies_little_library_

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a free eArc in exchange for this honest review.

This picture book serves as an introduction to Ukraine, its landscape and its culture. Ksenia Markevych beautiful illustrations bring to life the different seasons, festivals, and Ukrainian identity as Maryna Kariuk explores the concept of freedom through her child protagonist's interactions with other Ukrainians and mythical beings. She also includes a glossary of terms for the different foods, festivals, and folklore. It is a beautiful book and I highly recommend it.

Beautiful illustrations for this lovely picture book showcasing some of Ukraine's beauty, culture, and resiliency. Charming, if bittersweet.

I do wish I was able to zoom in on my kindle edition, as some of the text was small and difficult to make out, and the author's note, which I was keen to read, was impossible to make out. I'll have to grab a physical copy at some point!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This is a cute little rhyming story that could help introduce children to the traditions of the Ukraine. There were a lot of words used that I didn't know what they are or mean, but the book provides a glossary that gives pronunciations and descriptions for them. So even I learned things from this book.

The rhymes flowed really well in spite of my stumbling over the foreign words, so I'm guessing was written in English rather than translated to English. Although I recently read another children's book that the rhymes flowed really well and it was translated to English, so I could be wrong. It just had a nice melodic feeling to it.

The illustrations were bright and colorful helping me to see the traditions and items mentioned, even when I wasn't familiar with them. I could definitely read this book more than once and probably still come away learning something the first few times. Overall I give this book 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Oh my. This book is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The art is breathtaking. The text is flowery and free. Really pretty and peaceful. I love it.

Stunning illustrations by Ksenia Markevych are the real highlight of this picture book that explores Ukrainian culture and history. A timely and beautiful book that is sure to be appreciated by all ages.

This important children's book celebrates many important aspects of Ukrainian culture. At a time where children may be worried about their heritage and their culture during war, this sort of book can help remind children about the positive elements of their culture and unite them with others. The story is written in rhyme, making it an enjoyable book to listen to for younger readers. The illustrations are captivating and bright. I would definitely recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

This book is so beautiful. I Love the writings and the illustrations. I hope the poem can warm the heart of the readers and to convey the thoughts of both the author and the illustrator. I'm also grateful for the glossary, it was so helpful to readers especially me who isn't too familiarize with Ukraine cultures.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book.

A beautiful story of a young girl trying to find the beauty in her home. The beauty of the Ukraine. The book reads like poetry.