Book reading and donations at the Brussels Book Fair with Commissioner for Culture Glenn Micallef and Ambassador Yaroslav Melnyk

Tales of EUkraine was in the spotlight during the opening night of the Brussels Book Fair, on 25 March 2026. We had the pleasure of participating in the opening of the European Commission stand, "Place à l'Europe", where we hosted a reading of Ukrainian books published in bilingual versions (UA-FR and UA-NL) as part of our project.

Around 20 Ukrainian children, coming from Brussels, Genk, Liege, and other Belgian cities, gathered to follow the event. Before the reading, the children could spend some time drawing messages that would be sent to Ukrainian libraries, and together with their families, they had the honour to be welcomed at the European stand by Yaroslav Melnyk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Belgium.

Ambassador Yaroslav Melnyk and his team with the Ukrainian children at the Brussels Book Fair opening during the TEUk event

Following some welcoming words and group pictures, the kids sat around the Ukrainian storyteller Olga Skyrda, who read four of the TEUk books co-published by the Federation of European Publishers and the Old Lion Publishing House: we started with the compelling story of two abandoned dogs, Story Told By Zuka (Grasya Oliyko), who finally found a family to welcome them and love them, followed by Yakiv and the Wet Evening (Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, illustrated by Hrasia Oliyko), a book who teaches us that crying does not always mean to be sad and that it is important to let our emotions flow.

The storyteller Olga Skyrda, reading Story Told by Zuka

As time passed by, the children followed with interest the first two stories, and soon a third came, The Secret-Superpower (Slava Svitova, illustrated by Oleksander Shatokhin): a tender story not about being able to fly or to run at the speed of light, but the superpower of kindness. Finally, children could also listen to A Ghost Who Could Not Fall Asleep (Natalka Maletych, illustrated by Natala Tchorna), a friendship story of a young girl who moves to a new house and... a ghost!

Secret Superpower

The event ended with the European Commissioner for Culture for Intergenerational fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, distributing six books: the four read by the storyteller Olga Skyrda, Fogi and The Eh-Eh-Edventures of Excavator Eka, by the Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who died after a Russian attack in a cafè in 2023.

Commissioner for Culture, Glenn Micallef, distributing TEUk books to Ukrainian children

Tales of EUkraine would like to thank all those who made yesterday's evening possible: the European Commissioner Glenn Micallef and the Ambassador Yaroslav Melnyk, Halyna Schapowal, President of the Association "Ukrainian Women in Belgium", the Ukrainian storyteller Olga Skyrda, Nathalie Malivoir, Major Events Manager at the Representation of the European Commission to Belgium, and the Creative Europe programme for financing the project.

Thanks to Tales of EUkraine, almost 300,000 books have already been published and distributed across Europe to Ukrainian children.

About Tales of EUkraine

About the project Tales of EUkraine (TEUk) is an opportunity for European publishers to support their Ukrainian counterparts and to display their solidarity to the most vulnerable victims of the conflict by doing what they do best: publishing books. This project will bring together European and Ukrainian publishers to deliver bilingual children’s books to several communities hosting Ukrainian refugees, fostering integration and mutual understanding. TEUk has built a catalogue of Ukrainian children’s books available for publishers to acquire the rights to and publish them in bilingual editions. The project partners will purchase the part of the print run to be distributed to displaced children and organise its distribution to the Ukrainian refugee communities, whilst publishers will be invited to promote the book to their national communities. TEUk will facilitate the integration of Ukrainian children in their host countries, increase the knowledge of Ukrainian culture across the ...

Tales of EUkraine event at the Frankfurt Book Fair

One year later, Tales of EUkraine gets back at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest trade book fair in the world! We are excited to return to the most prestigious event for the book sector and cannot wait to show all the progress we have made since our last time in 2023 . We are proud to be hosted by the Ukrainian Collective Stand . Join us on Wednesday 16 October , from 15:00 to 15:45 at stand B64, Hall 4.1 . Our speakers: Arnaud Pasquali , DG Education and Culture, Creative Europe Programme, European Commission Enrico Turrin , Deputy Director, Federation of European Publishers Olena Odynoka , Deputy Director, Ukrainian Book Institute Grzegorz Majerowicz , Board Member, “Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania” (Universal Reading Foundation) Nestoras Poulakos , Vakxikon Publications Andre Störr , Verlag Friedrich Mauke During the event, we will present the results achieved by the project so far and we will have contributions from publishers and partners who joined Tales of EUkraine...

Tales of EUkraine at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 - A recap of our event

Tales of EUkraine came back at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest trade book fair in the world, on Wednesday 16 October! The project was officially launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair two years ago, and at this year's event, we announced some of the main results achieved so far. Together with our project partners, we were joined by some of the publishers and other associations who believed in TEUk's mission and participated in the project. The event was opened by our Ukrainian partner, the Ukrainian Book Institute , represented for the occasion by Deputy Director Olena Odynoka . She stressed the importance of TEUk for Ukrainian displaced children and the relevance of the partnership between Ukrainian and European publishers for the Ukrainian publishing sector. During his presentation, Enrico Turrin , FEP Deputy Director , showcased the project's main achievements two years from its beginning: so far, more than 140,000 books have been already published and TEUk is in line...

Tales of EUkraine

Search This Blog