Curator—Olya Rusina
We are all born free, but as we grow, we need the support of adults around us to realize, test and exercise the limits of our personal freedom. To feel the limits of the freedom of those around us. And, ultimately, to explore in all this our own capabilities, which are inextricably linked to freedom of action: what are you capable of? What can and cannot you afford? And what is the reason if you cannot?
Every child grows up with a feeling of inner freedom. This feeling will be pronounced more or less, depending on the various circumstances of the child’s upbringing and other people around on whom s/he will rely during the first years of life.
Helping a child develop this feeling—not that of frivolity, but of self-confidence and responsibility—is an important task for us as adults, and at times it can be very difficult. After all, this feeling is part of the child’s personality and therefore does not depend entirely on us; on the one hand, we want to be a source of support, but on the other, we can only simply be there for them. Not to pressure, but to provide a guideline that can be leaned on and followed. That is, to have this same feeling of inner freedom in ourselves, to exercise it in how we live and what choices we make every day. And what context—particularly in terms of culture and literature—we create for children to help them clarify and experience this on their own.
Children rely on everything around them to understand how the world works, what their place is in it, how they can act in this world and what they are capable of. And their reading experience can be no less important in this regard than our explanations and efforts are.
Childhood is that special time when you are constantly doing something for the first time, and very often you do not succeed on the first try. That is why you try over and over again. Children are also good mentors for us, adults, teaching us not to be afraid of mistakes and repeated attempts, teaching us how to be persistent. Ultimately, how to believe in yourself. Along with freedom, their sense of responsibility grows, and with every new attempt, after a mistake or failure, their courage does. Because only when you have inner freedom, you are not afraid to make mistakes and are courageous enough to try over and over again.
It is noteworthy that in 2014 the theme of the Book Arsenal’s Program for Kids was: Freedom. To Read, Think, Know, Live Freely. The theme of being free in today’s threatened world arises naturally among us—especially under the influence of historical turning points in the country’s fate and unexpected disasters. At the same time, the feeling of inner courage and confidence—I will cope, no matter what—is one of the few constants that can be relied on when you do not know what will happen tomorrow.
However, now we already know what happened: back then, 12 years ago, it was only the first year of the war. The children who at that time were the youngest visitors to Book Arsenal are already teenagers who will become young adults in a few years. What kind of country did they grow up in? Did they grow up freely in the world where freedom is constantly under threat? What did they read about this in books? How do we ourselves rethink this from the perspective of the coming years? And what space for growth, after all, are we ourselves creating right now?
This is the question to which each of us will find their own, personal answer. But even if we feel that somewhere along the way we made a mistake, if we want to fix anything, childhood—both our own and that of today’s children—reminds us of this very important feeling: we must have the courage to make mistakes and try again.