Kobets Oleks.The Sun Rises: For Ukrainian Children and Youth.New York, 1961

O. Kobets [Oleksa Varavva]. Schodyt Sonce = Schodyt Sonce (The Sun Is Rising): for Ukrainian children and youth; declamation reader (poetry, fairy tales, short stories) / foreword by Prof. Dr. H. H. Vashchenko; illustrations and cover by Oleh and Oleksandr Voronyn; illustrations for "Khrystova Yalynka" by P. P. Kholodnyi; technical design by Yurii Yarmak.

New York: Slovo Ukrainian Writers' Association, 1961. — XVI, 272 p.: ill., portr. — Print run: 2,100 copies. Printed in the USA.

In a published illustrated softcover: two-color printing on a cream background—black and ochre—featuring a rising sun over a fence, sunflowers, and two birds; the title is set in a stylized font with ornaments inside the letters. The cover is yellowed, with brown spots and a stain at the top right; the edges and corners are worn; two pieces of yellowed adhesive tape with glue residue are stuck to the illustration in the lower right corner. The back cover is heavily soiled and stained, with creases and brown streaks; the edge near the spine is frayed, with small losses of paper; a price label "4.00" is pasted at the top left. The text block is tight; the paper is cream, clean inside, with slight yellowing; on p. 270 (contents), there is a small dark spot and a pencil mark. The title page bears a purple-red owners' stamp "Prof. Dr. Petro i Lesia Goy, 430 East 6th St., New York" (a fainter second impression below). Condition: good.

Lifetime edition. The book has historical and cultural value and is of collector's interest.

INFORMATION

The book was published at the expense of Ukrainian émigré and railroad laborer in America Markiyan S. Chornokosynskyi: his portrait is included immediately after the foreword. This declamation reader contains poems, fairy tales, and short stories, divided into four sections according to the reader's age—"For the Youngest," "For the Slightly Older," "For the Still Slightly Older," and "For the Oldest." The youngest are addressed "At Dawn," "The Apple Tree," "Who Saved the Little Birds' Lives?"; the oldest—"Glory to Shevchenko," "The Heroes of the Bazaar," and Christmas and Easter stories. The volume concludes with "Khrystova Yalynka" (1932): twelve children freeze in a field in the middle of a collective farm winter, and in spring a birch cross with the carved number "12" is placed over their common grave.

O. Kobets is the literary pseudonym of Oleksa Petrovych Varavva (1882–1967): writer, journalist, and translator, World War I veteran, and full cavalier of the Order of St. George. He emigrated to Germany in 1944 and to the USA in 1950, and died in Buffalo. The illustrations and cover were done by Oleh and Oleksandr Voronyn (Voronyn is another pseudonym of the writer; Oleksandr was his son), the illustrations for "Khrystova Yalynka"—P. P. Kholodnyi, technical design—Yurii Yarmak.

The Slovo Ukrainian Writers' Association published the book in New York in 1961 with a print run of 2,100 copies. The foreword was written by educator Hryhorii Vashchenko (1878–1967): he speaks about the threat of denationalization of Ukrainian youth and about the fact that the future of the nation depends on them. At the end of the book, a list of three marked typographical errors is provided (pp. 26, 80, 240).