Oksana Pelc writes and publishes illustrated books for children, adults, and the quietly in-between.
Her stories live somewhere between picture book, modern fable, and emotional folklore — blending tenderness, humor, and contemplative depth in ways that speak differently to readers at different ages.
Some children laugh at the walrus.
Some adults suddenly recognize themselves in the turtle.
Both responses are correct.
Born in Odesa, Ukraine, Oksana left home at sixteen and later studied medicine in Germany, graduating from Heidelberg University with a focus on child and adolescent psychiatry. Since then, her life has unfolded across countries, languages, and cultures — experiences that deeply shape her work.
Her stories often explore:
belonging,
sensitivity,
self-trust,
boundaries,
imagination,
and the quiet moment when an old way of living no longer fits.
Again and again, her characters leave something behind:
a coop,
a costume,
a role,
a performance,
an identity,
a certainty.
And somewhere along the way, they begin returning to themselves.
Oksana’s books are known for combining emotional warmth with playful honesty. They are often gentle, sometimes absurd, occasionally quietly rebellious, and written with deep respect for the inner lives of both children and adults.
Animals appear frequently in her work — foxes, turtles, storks, hens, chameleons — not as symbols to decode, but as companions through very human experiences.
Her creative voice has been shaped not only by literature and medicine, but also by years of inner inquiry, observation, motherhood, migration, and listening closely to the strange comedy of being alive.
She is especially interested in stories that create emotional space rather than instruction:
stories that do not force conclusions,
rush healing,
or flatten complexity into lessons.
Stories that allow softness without losing intelligence.
She currently lives in Cyprus with her husband and two sons, where she is building Quiet Flame Press — an independent home for illustrated works that are tender, thoughtful, visually atmospheric, and made to be returned to over time.
Current and upcoming titles include:
The Hen Who Left the Coop,
Soft Paw,
Kurma, the Spiritual Turtle,
I’m Not Cold!,
Wait!,
Not the Walrus!,
and The Chameleon Who Stayed.