Biographical materials about Vsevolod Nestaiko are read with a horse in the throat, and his works – with smiles and even laughter. “Smile more often should be – then you are younger,” – I will come to such a recipe of a bowler when looking trough “Toradors of Vasiukìvka”. In the early 90-ies of XX century the general circulation of Vsevolod Nestaiko’s books was marked – three million copies! The trilogy “Toradors of Vasiukìvka ” was issued 32 times, including abroad, the author of Peru owns more than 30 books, and works translated into 20 languages

Fact № 1
Start top 10 worth of what he was born in Berdychiv on January 30, 1930. The future writer was the son of the sich sagittarius Zynovii Nestaiko, executed by enkadentists (the enemy of the people!) in 1933 year. The father knew five languages. Grandfather and great-grandfather of the writer were Greek Catholic priests, who knew well in Galicia.
Fact № 2
In the stories about life and creativity Vsevolod Nestaiko often mentioned one family legend. Mother-philologist Maria Dovhaniuk gave birth to Vsevolod in a break between reading a remark. Obstetrician, Old Jew, said: Madame! You seem to have a writer!», – he joked about this, “so I can say, I was born between the lines.”
Fact № 3
We lived in the house of Madame Shurman, a sort of Berdychiv household salons. Madam had a granddaughter Frima, my age, which I liked. So I saw her on the verg, loudly shouting: Open the door, my woman is coming!
Fact № 4
A terrible 1933 year, and the family of Vsevolod, fleeing hunger, moved from Berdychiv to Kyiv, where he lived a mother’s sister. The apartment of the Nestaikos was in the premises of the school, where Maria Ivanovna, the mother of Vsevolod, was teaching. On the one hand it was fun – to live in school, on the other… I was jealous of my friends, whom our teacher Lina Mytrofanivna wrote in a diary about: “Tomorrow come with your parents!” I wrote nothing to the diary:” My mother was near, ” the writer recalls.
Fact № 5
From the memories of Nestaiko: “In childhood I was skinny and small – not the smallest in the first class.” And terribly wanted to grow as soon as possible. On the advice of a classmate Vasia, as short as I was, I tied to one leg a heavy iron, to the second – the brick, fell behind the top bar of the door and hung, until the strength was enough, trying to pull his body. And yet he said to me, that everything’s growing from the rain. And I was long idle in the rain, substiking the jets of my sinful red head. My mother wondered what my constant runny nose was. And when I became a truly adult, I terribly wanted to go back to my childhood – to play, to get out, to rebel. The release was one – become a children’s writer. So I did. And, having remembering my restless childhood, I tried to write as much as possible. Do not hurry, as I once, rather grow. For children’s years of unique».
Fact № 6
The famous Fairy trilogy under the general name “In the country of sunny rabbits” consisted of four decades. To continue writing this work prompted the bowler to meet with the readers. At one of such meetings, one of the girls said that was offended by the writer. After all, in his writings the main characters, except Cosmo-Nautka are boys. Schoolgirl asked to write about the adventures of girls in some fabulous country. After this history Vsevolod Nestaiko created a fairy tale “In the country of lunar rabbits”, where the main heroine became a girl Hannusia, or just Nusia.
Fact № 7
Fairytale series “Amazing Adventures in the Forest School” Nestaiko wrote more than 20 years, and radio show “Radiotale of Vsevolod Nestaiko”, who was the author himself, regular from 1999 to 2009 years. During 30 years Nestaiko worked as an editor in the “Veselka” publishing house and was demanding primarily to himself. If suddenly he made a mistake, came with the Kyiv cake, was leaning before the editor and said, never again. «I wrote all my life by hand! And the manuscripts are not much crossed – somehow it is easily written. I had two typing machines and then reprinted all.
Fact № 8
This year teachers from schools of such European countries as Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Greece and Lithuania created a map of the most popular children’s books throughout Europe. So, the most popular, the best and most important book, representing Ukraine, is “Toradors of Vasiukìvka” by Vsevolod Nestaiko. In 1979, the International Council for Children and Youth literature included “Toradors of Vasiukìvka” to the special honorary List of G. K. Andersen (special Hans Christian Andersen honor list) as one of the greatest works of world literature for children, and the film about Rural “Torez” won the Grand Prix at the International Film Festival in Munich (1968).
Fact № 9
Vsevolod Nestaiko is considered the founder of the Ukrainian children’s detective. In 1990 he saw the world of his book “The Mysterious voice behind the back” of this literary genre.
Fact № 10
Critics called Nestaiko a comedian and a smiley. In fact, his works helped readers to “accumulate joy” (the words of the writer). In the words of Anatolii Kostetskyi, he created the country of sunny goodness. Nestaiko said that he would be happy when one child, having read his book, ceased to feel fear and loneliness. “The biggest reward for me was the recognition of some readers that when they get sick, then take from the shelves “Toradors… ” and re-read.
The sake of this is to live on the world.
I remember my restless childhood, bitter moments of loneliness and I think that when at least one sick child I helped to overcome disease, my creative efforts were not in vain.

P.S You could say at the beginning: “Top 10 facts about Vsevolod Nestaiko – all you need to know about this writer”. However, about the writer of the country of solar and lunar rabbits is worth knowing and top-100, and top-150 facts, so it is an amazing author! We share that our top 10 and hope it will encourage readers to look for another hundred facts about the writer and smile by re-reading his tales at any age.
Prepared our top-10 about Vsevolod Nestaiko materials: «Osvitoria Media», anthologies of Literature for Children and youth «Dyvosvit «Veselky», editions of works of the writer, magazine «Shkilna Biblioteka» (2012, № 1), as well as for materials of such authors as: N. Durava, M. Kostrytsia, I. Neseniuk, H. Cherkaska.

Translated by Aliona Matushevich