Another good news story for the first of the month.
This time, an email from Marian McNeir.
She tells me:
“I thought you would love to hear about a very exciting initiative between Bath and our Ukrainian partner city, Oleksandriya.
I’m writing as a founder member of the Friends of Oleksandriya to introduce the organiser of the project, Zhenya Shkil, who has been working for more than a year with local writer Claire Bramwell-Pearson and Ukrainian illustrator Alexandra Dikaia to produce an enchanting story about a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy, Vitalii Petrenko, who is living in Bath with his mother and little sister.
Everyone is very kind to him, but he sometimes feels a bit of an outsider, and then in the Headmaster’s office, he meets a Bath boy, Ed, who prefers history and the Romans to football – another outsider!
The two boys find their way to the Roman Baths, and their adventures begin, involving a well-known Ukrainian dragon!
It’s a heart-warming story of friendship and understanding, and the aim is to be a good read but also to raise awareness and support for children in Ukraine.
“Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths ” is going to be launched this week in 3 local schools; today, Wednesday, October 1st at Twerton Infants, where the author will read from the book and sign copies which will be given free to 60 Key Stage 2 children.
The second launch on 2nd October is very exciting because not only will it be with the author and illustrator at St Mary’s Primary in Writhlington, it will be with children receiving the book in Oleksandriya – all via Zoom.
Zhenya has just returned from Ukraine, where she met the children and gave them free copies of the book, too. Needless to say, they were thrilled!
The final launch will take place on Thursday afternoon, 2 October, at Castle Primary School in Keynsham.”
As Zhenya says: ” It was wonderful to meet the Ukrainian children in their classrooms and to see how much they loved the book and how they are looking forward to seeing, via Zoom, children just like them in Bath.”
Marian, a former Mayor of Bath, who has been involved for many years with twinning and developing links between Bath and its European partner cities, says how she hopes that these zoom links will continue and encourage understanding between our two cities and our two countries and hopefully, one day, these children will be able to visit Bath and see the Roman Baths for themselves – and who knows what adventures they might have!
” Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths ” are on sale at the local booksellers like Mr B’s, Topping and Bath Abbey gift shop, price £10.
Good luck with today’s initial launch. I am confined to quarters with a cold, but wish you all the best with this.
