Author Tabling with L.Kharkiv

About the Author

L. Kharkiv is a Ukrainian-American author-illustrator, a New Englander with an accent. She writes fairy tales rooted in Ukrainian folklore and spends her days chasing a cat off her sketchbooks. She spent her childhood in the magnificent city of Kharkiv, and all of her summers in a tiny Ukrainian village. The woods and the fields behind her grandparents’ house now provide lifelong inspiration for her work. Her debut, Into the Kryvolis Forest, launched into the world August 15, 2026.

About the Book

Into the Kryvolis Forest is an illustrated Middle Grade novel in verse set in the world of Ukrainian folklore. For fans of Edward Gorey, Slavic fairy tales, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

After their home is invaded by monsters, Bronas and Solomiya must cross the treacherous woods to a magical village. They have thirteen days to get to safety, before the Kryvolis Forest claims them and turns them into one of its beasts. The terrifying inhabitants of the woods circle them, the fear cripples their steps, but with an axe in hand and an antlered chickadee as their guide, they put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.

While the flesh-eating deer herds threaten their passage and kikimoras snatch at their ankles, Solomiya and Bronas persevere and find friends and hope in unlikely places.

Immersive hand-drawn ink pen illustrations invite the reader to enter the forest.

You can purchase your copy of Into the Kryvolis Forest on The Bookery website or get your signed copy at the event!