How War Change Rondo written and illustrated by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, translated by Oksana Lushchevska

 

How War Changed Rondo

written and illustrated by

Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv

translated from the Ukrainian by Oksana Lushchevska

Enchanted Lion Books, 2021, 40 pages

I originally posted this on my other blog, The Children's War, but given the current situation in the Ukraine, I thought I would repost it here.

Three friends, Danko, a bright light with a shiny transparent heart, Fabian, a red balloon dog with a knot for a nose, and Zirka, a paper origami bird covered with notes and sketches of his journeys, loved living in Rondo. Rondo was a place with clear air, where residents grew and tended flowers everywhere, and where they all lived in distinctive houses. In other words, Rondo was a pretty great place to live. 

Rondo was especially famous for its flowers and the thee was a large greenhouse which housed a collection of rare plants and flowers that could sing. Concerts were often held in the greenhouse and the town anthem, Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, was always played for residents and visitors alike.

One ordinary day, Danko and Fabian were on their way to meet Zirka, who had just returned from a trip with new stories. But whispers has begun...war was on its way to Rondo and leaving a path of death and destruction everywhere it went. No one in Rondo knew what war was, but once it arrived, everything there was dark and ugly. War planted "black flowers" (bombs) and prickly weeds that no light could shine through, causing Rondo's beautiful flowers to stop singing. 

The three friends resisted war, but Danko, Fabian, and Zirka were all hit by the "stones" (bullets) that war sent out. How could the three friends ever defeat war, especially now that they were all wounded - Danko's heart had cracks, one of Fabian's legs were pierced by a prickly weed, and the edges of Zirka's wings were burned? When Danko decides to try to provide light to the flowers in the greenhouse, he realizes that war is afraid of light and so he, Fabian, and Zirka rally the other residents of Rondo in an effort to produce a powerful enough light to finally defeat war. 

War is finally defeated, and Rondo is repaired and rebuilt. The flowers in the greenhouse begin to sing again, but the poppies that had grown all around town no longer grew in different colors. Now, they only grow in one color - red.

The interesting thing about How the War Changed Rondo is that war itself isn't the focus of the story, but rather how it impacts Rondo and the lives of its residents during and after the fighting is over. Here we see the lasting effects of injuries received in the war. Because, even though Rondo is repaired, its residents are forever changed. Now, they know what it is like when their beloved flowers stop singing, now they will have to live with sad memories of loved lost friends and relatives, as well as with the physical wounds that were inflicted on them by war, including Danko with his cracked heart, Fabian with his injured leg, and Zirka with his burnt wings.

Mixed-media illustrations in this picture book for older readers harmonize brilliantly with the text, going from pale green and an golden yellow to darkness followed by that same pale green with buildings tinged in a sooty black - another physical manifestation of the lasting impart of war. Interestingly enough, there are only two illustrations where a human arm is seen - first dropping bombs, then later retreating, yet none of Rondo's citizens are depicted as human. It really brings home the point that only humans start wars. 

FYI Enchanted Lion Books, the publisher of How War Changed Rondo, has added this to its website: 

ALL PROCEEDS FROM WEBSITE SALES ON HOW WAR CHANGED RONDO WILL BE DONATED TO UNICEF'S RELIEF EFFORTS IN WKRAIN, FOR AS LONG AS THE CONFLICT IS ON GOING