The story of “Anxie the Hedgehog”
I wrote the first draft of the book in June 2022, four months after Russia brutally invaded Ukraine. For the last two years, I have worked extensively with the Ukrainian children and their mothers who had to flee the country, anxiously waiting to return to their homeland to be reunited with their families.
I had the privilege to read the first draft of the book to Ukrainian refugee children in Poland and the UK, and their feedback had a profound influence on me as a therapist and a writer.
I am grateful to all Ukrainian and British children who generously commented on the book in progress and shared their feedback, often supplemented with numerous drawings of hedgehogs, Aterra and Vozalats.
“Anxie the Hedgehog” is aimed at helping children to process difficult emotions and the experience of loss and forced displacement. The uniqueness of the book is in the fact that it contains an element of psychological education incorporated into the main narrative, and teaches children basic awareness and skills of how to recognise anxiety and work through it via the medium of narrative therapy powered by illustrations.
It is an allegorical fairy-tale about hedgehogs and is based on Dr Margo Sunderland method of narrative therapy and story-telling, engaging with trauma and building resilience via post-traumatic growth.
The concept of the book is multifaceted:
- To teach children how to recognise the signs of anxiety and give them tools to manage it
- To help children process trauma via narrative and cognitive-behavioural therapy, to foster resilience.
- To raise the awareness of mental health and help to tell the story of the Ukrainian children and their stolen childhood.
This is the feedback I had from a 12 year old Ukrainian boy Bogdan, currently living in Sheffield with his mum, who came to the UK as a refugee in 2022,
”I read the book and for the first time I cried since me and mum left Ukraine in a mad rush. Andy is me! Thank you for telling my story !“
I am aware that international children will read the book differently, which I think is a part of its strength and appeal as an educational tool, as it gently introduces the concept of therapy and the benefits that it brings, removing the stigma around the process and fostering the idea of well-being as a skill.
The book has been beautifully illustrated by a young talented Ukrainian illustrator Natalka Soiko , who currently remains in the Ukraine. We have started working together on a new book for teen-agers.
“Anxie the Hedgehog” will be available on Amazon and all major book sellers in autumn 2024. All proceeds from the book will go to support vulnerable women and children affected by war and forced displacement.
I am grateful for your support of my work.
© Dr. Olena Edwards-Skadowska
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