Pinpin loves birthdays.
Mom’s is in the winter.
Dad’s is in the summer.
H
s is i
in the fa ll.
Birthdays are the best days of the year.
Tomorrow is Pinpin’s birthday. He can’t fall asleep. Pinpin is thinking about his guests, a cake with candles and colorful balloons.
Pinpin wakes up in the morning because of a terrible noise. He hears rumbling. He sees lightning. Outside, the chestnuts are hitting the windowsill, knock, knock, knock, knock!
“Happy Birthday, Pinpin!” Mom kisses him. “Where are my balloons?” Mom looks at him sadly. “I’m sorry Pinpin, but the wind is so strong that Dad couldn’t bring the balloons home. They all flew away…” “We’ll still have the cake and the guests, right?” Pinpin smiles as he asks. “Pinpin, the thunderstorm is so intense that the bakery where we ordered the cake has no electricity. They won’t be able to make it…” “I won’t have a cake?” Pinpin frowns.
“We’ll bake our own,” Mom nods. “But the guests will come, won’t they?” Pinpin looks out of the window.
Outside, the wind is still making the tree branches sway wildly. The chestnuts keep falling: knock, knock, knock, knock.
The thunder keeps rumbling. Lightning lights up the sky. The chestnuts keep knocking on the windowsill: knock, knock, knock, knock.
Pinpin and his friends build a train track. The delicious smell of freshly baked cake comes from the oven.
When Mom lights the candles on the cake, Pinpin makes a wish: let all birthdays be the best days of the year. Then he blows out the candles to make sure his wish comes true. BIRTHDAYS ARE THE BEST DAYS OF THE YEAR!
Oksana Lushchevska is a Ukrainian writer and translator. She is the author of 30 children’s and young adult books. Her books were awarded a number of Ukrainian children’s literature awards. Some of them were included into the White Raven Catalogue and shortlisted for BBC Children’s Book Award. Oksana has a PhD in Education and taught children’s literature courses at the University of Georgia. Now, she is a children’s literature consultant and the owner of A Joyful Fox’s Reading Club. Oksana lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Tania Goryushina is an artist born in Kyiv, who now lives and works in Stockholm. Tania trained academic painting, drawing and ceramics in Kyiv, and conceptual art at The Academy of Fine Art in Umeå. Her primary focus is large-scale watercolor portraits, abstract paintings, and watercolor animation. You can see more of Tania`s works at www.goryushina.com. Tania runs a micropublishing company, working on art projects, book illustrations and teaching art. She has also won competitions to decorate public spaces.
Story: Oksana Lushchevska Illustrations & design: Tania Goryushina Production: Tyanachu, Stockholm 2019 Original title: Найкращі дні року Translation from Ukrainian: Oksana Lushchevska & Michael M. Naydan Editing: Elizabeth Kourkov Font: Arial, Blogger Sans Print: Jelgavas Tipografija, 2019 First edition 500 Thank You: Luba Otter, Bertil Otter ISBN: 978-91-984219-6-5 © 2019 Tyanachu and the copyright owners. All rights reserved. contact@tyanachu.com www.tyanachu.com @books_tyanachu
Tyanachu is an artist-run company based in Stockholm with a focus on the creation and publication of children’s picturebooks. We approach the creation process with awareness, pleasure, and meaning, which keeps us at arm’s length from the big world of the book business. If you want to get to know us, or have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch.