Threads Zlata's Ukrainian Shirt by Lina Maslo

 "Red is for love, and black is for sadness ... Life has good times and hard times. Even though the Communists are making life difficult, we still have each other."

"Blue is for healing. Green for renewal. And gold - for the hope that one day, the wheat fields will again touch the sky."

Zlata is given a beautiful shirt for her birthday. Her mother has carefully stitched red flowers and black leaves - "Life has good times and hard times." The year is 1932 and just a few days after her birthday the Russian Communists arrive. They take everything of value from her home and then their neighbors betray them and the solders come back and take their hidden food, tiny amount of money and Zlata's father. Her father is gone, her beautiful new shirt is gone and Zlata and her mother are barely surviving. This is the time in history 1932-1933 called the Holodomor (famine-genocide here is some background reading for teachers).

Zlata has a good friend named Yeva but it was her father who betrayed Zlata and her parents. It is Yeva's fault her Papa has been taken away. Their friendship is over. But then the soldiers take everything from Yeva and her family and her father is also taken away. The way the friendship of these two young girls is able to be healed will warm your heart. In a familiar story trope this healing coincides with the arrival of spring. Sadly though, we do not discover the fate of her father.

You can see pages from this book on the author webpage. 

Threads: Zlata's Ukrainian Shirt is a very important book for a few reasons:

Children here in Australia will have been hearing about the war in Ukraine for over a year now. This book is a way to introduce older students to (a) the history of other dreadful conflicts in Ukraine and (b) to show the beauty of their culture via, in this case, exquisitely embroidered shirts. This is a picture book I would share with students aged 10+ because it deals with complex topics of betrayal (blood money), persecution, war, famine, injustice, starvation, communism, and fear. 

A poignant yet accessible entry into Ukraine’s ongoing suffering—and survival. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb:  The threads on Zlata's beautiful birthday blouse were stitched by her mother. “Red is for love, and black is for sadness,” her papa says. Mama warns her not to show it off. Ever since the Communists came from Russia to Ukraine, they prohibited the teaching of Ukrainian culture. Now, in the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of the 1930s, they've even taken the grain from Zlata's family's fields. But despite the danger, her parents refuse to give up their art, language, and beliefs. As Zlata works to help her community survive, she finds that the dream of freedom is stitched deeper into the Ukrainian spirit than she could ever imagine. Drawing from her grandparents' experience of the Famine-Genocide, Maslo weaves a thoughtful story that dares us not to forget the pain of the past as it informs the present conflict in Ukraine and inspires hope for the future.

Last week, the 15th May, was the third Thursday in May. Today a new parcel of books arrived and one of them was this one Threads: Zlata's Ukrainian Shirt and that is where I read about the Vyshuvanka which is the special embroidered shirt you can see on the cover of this book. This means I have missed Vyshyvanka Day (by just one week) but I am so happy to have found this book. Next year, 2026, the date will be 21st May. 

Vyshyvanka Day is an international celebration dedicated to the traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt. Its purpose is to preserve and promote the age-old traditions of folk art and national clothing. While it's not a public holiday, that doesn’t stop people from joyfully supporting the tradition — by wearing a vyshyvanka to work, school, at home, or at public events.

• In 2015, the holiday gained official international recognition, and vyshyvankas were worn in over 50 countries.
• In 2017, a massive banner with vyshyvanka patterns was unfurled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
• Between 2020–2022, Ukrainian diplomats wearing vyshyvankas posed for photos in the capitals of countries with Ukrainian embassies.
• The largest vyshyvanka in the world was created in Rivne, Ukraine, in 2011 — it measured 54 square meters.
• In 2023, vyshyvankas were even placed on statues in Central Park, New York
• In 2021, Ukrainian airline SkyUp released a crew capsule collection inspired by vyshyvankas.
• In 2015, Google featured a special vyshyvanka-themed Doodle on its homepage for Ukrainian users.
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Image source: Google Doodle

Over 250 distinct embroidery stitches can be used to form the vyshyvanka’s signature coded symbols. These typically fall into three categories: floral ornamentation, zoomorphic figures, and geometric shapes, all of which can be found in today’s Doodle artwork. No pattern comes without a detailed meaning, and Ukraine’s varied cultures and natural landscapes are reflected in the unique iconography employed within each region. (This video goes into more detail about the embroidery patterns)

The patterns vary across the country as you can see on this map:

Here are two other books by Lina Maslo:

Read more here

I have previously talked about these books by Ukrainian authors and illustrators. I also love the art of Hans Christian Andersen illustrator Kost Lavro (I do hope he is safe and has perhaps been able to leave Ukraine). And don't forget to look for versions of the folktale The Mitten. 

Stars and Poppy Seeds

Alias Anna (verse novel)

The Blackbird Girls

Twelve Day of Christmas illustrated by Rachel Griffin

The Twelve Days of Christmas

This version of the Twelve Days of Christmas is one where you will want to linger over the scrumptious embroidered illustrations. The text is the traditional poem but Rachel Griffin interprets each verse with colourful collages of patchwork. I especially love the page with the five gold rings adorning a beautiful elephant. This book also comes with a CD. You can see two pages here.

For her fabric-art illustrations, Griffin used beads, buttons, sequins, shells, mirrors, faux jewels, and a wide variety of fabrics and trimmings combined with embroidery details to create her images for each day of gift-giving. Kirkus

This version of the Twelve days of Christmas was first published in 2002 - but a new edition was published in 2015 and so this book is currently available.

Here is a new book illustrated by Rachel Griffin:

Here is another beautiful book which we did have in my previous school library:

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

Koly is thirteen. Koly lives in India. Her family are very poor and it is difficult to feed everyone. Even though she is only thirteen her mother (Maa) and her father (Baap) decide it's time for her to be married. They find a boy aged sixteen who will marry her but his family are demanding a large dowry. The family sell all their precious things.  Koly is taken to a village far from her home and on the wedding day she briefly meets her new husband. 

The marriage is a deception. Hari is desperately ill. His parents, who Koly calls sass (mother in-law) and sassur (father in-law) have set up the marriage so they can obtain money from the dowry. They plan to use to take Hari the sacred Ganges River. They hope bathing in the river will heal their son.

Hari has tuberculosis. He does not recover and now Koly is a widow which in India means she has no status and no chance of another marriage. She becomes a slave in the household of her inlaws. Hari's sister Chandra is soon married and moves away. Mr Mehtas dies and so now Koly must endure unkindness and even cruelty that is dished out each day by Sass. After two years of this dreadful existence Mrs Mehtas announces they are moving to Delhi. On the way the train stops in Vrindavan - the city of widows. Koly is betrayed, Sass abandons her. Now she must survive with no money, no friends, and no where to go. Luckily Koly is a resourceful girl and she has skills. She can read and she is very skilled at embroidery. It is these things along with the kindness of strangers and meeting one very special friend that mean this book does contain that all important happy ending.

Homeless Bird is a rich exploration of a different culture. There is an extensive glossary in the back of the book but Gloria Whelan weaves Hindi words so skilfully into the story that I had no need to refer to this. Here are some quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"Maa got me up so early ... We went to the courtyard well and drew water to wash my hair. Maa oiled and braided it. She dusted my face with golden turmeric powder, and with a paste of sandalwood and vermilion painted the red tikka mark on my forehead. My eyes were outlined with kohl. My lips and cheeks were rouged. The kautuka, a yellow woolen bridal thread, was fastened around my wrist."

"Even with my bedroll to soften the stone of the doorway, I could not sleep."

"I tried everywhere to find work, but for every job there were a hundred seekers. For a week the doorstep was my home."

"Along the borders of the rich lady's sari were embroidered flurries of blossoms in pale yellows and pinks twined with green leaves. I could not take my eyes from the clever work."

"As I thought of the river, I remembered the heron. I began to stitch its long neck and its head with its sharp beak. I stitched the long danging legs and the great wings. I forgot where I was. ... 'This is what I want (said Mr Das); it is your heron. It has flown right out of your head, and more important, out of your heart."

Homeless bird was published in 2000 but I am happy to report it is still in print. I was lucky to find a sale copy in a local bookshop. Gloria Whelan and I almost share a birthday and she is the author of a very impressive body of work.

I would pair Homeless Bird with Amal Unbound.

I thought I knew the name Gloria Whelan. I now discover she is the author of two (very old) titles from the Stepping Stones series published by Random House. Next Spring an Oriole and Shadow of the Wolf. I read both of these junior novels many years ago.