Story: Masha Cheriakova and Marta Chernova
Illustrations: Marta Chernova
Layout: Vadzim Kaspiarovich
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Popurri, Minsk (not yet published)
Language: Belarusian and English (side-by-side)
Dimensions: 211 x 248 x 10 mm (8.3 x 9.8 x 0.4 inches)
This is a story about a boy who really wanted to get wealthy, and according to an old Belarusian superstition, one of the best ways to do that it get pooped on by a bird. For even a little child knows that when a bird poops on you – you are destined to become filthy rich! He goes on a big adventure to get wealthy, but in the end finds something very different… friendship!
This book is a part of the Heta Belarus Dzietka project, whose mission is to celebrate Belarusian culture and promote the Belarusian language, which is why this book is in both English and Belarusian.
There once was a boy called Mikalai. Every day, he and his Grandpa would go to the park and talk about their dreams. Mikalai didn’t exactly know, what his dream was, until something interesting happened…
Grandpa seemingly dodged a bullet: a large bird poop almost landed on him. Alas! Turns out that is actually considered good luck and leads to great wealth!
The grandson suddenly realized that he wants to become wealthy so he can buy all the toys in the world!
He decides that all he needs in order to become wealthy is to get a nice bird poop to land on him. He goes to the park to retrieve it.
He begs the birds to poop on him, but they don’t seem to understand him.
Amidst his trials, Mikalai meets a girl, who shares some bread with him. Surely, now the birds will come to him…
With the help of the bread, Mikalai manages to snatch a bird, thereby distressing the girl. He has to explain his situation to the girl.
The girl laughs at him, but agrees to help him. They both begin to study birds in hopes of better understanding when and how they poop.
They even try to make a special prop: a green hat with a target for the birds to poop on. No dice.
They even visit a zoo because there are lots of birds there! But no luck there either.
They try all kinds of “poopy” places, like sitting near statues… Still no!
Until finally, they decide to chill out atop a very soiled car. They lay and lay there, just talking, getting so distracted by a great conversation, that they almost miss the moment when A HUGE BIRD POOP LANDS ON MIKALAI!!!
They dance and expect the wealth to come immediately… But when it doesn’t, they go to Grandpa and ask him why they are not wealthy yet…
…to which Grandpa replies: my dear kids, wealth comes in many different forms, like friendship, love, and happiness…
The kids don’t completely understand his response, but we can see perfectly that in their quest they have found the greatest wealth of all: friendship.
More on character development and color choices coiming soon!
Marta Chernova 