Marie's Magic Eggs

How Marie Procai Kept the

Ukranian Art of Pysanky Alive

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Calkins Creek

(Astra Books)

2.10.2026

48 pages

Ages 7 -1o

Author: Sandra Neil Wallace

   Illustrator: Evan Turk

Character: Marie Procai

Overview:

" As a new immigrant to America living in Minneapolis, Marie Procai felt homesick and alone—she missed her homeland, Ukraine. She took comfort in the ancient Ukrainian art of making pysanky, intricately decorated eggs for Easter, an art she learned from her grandmother and brought with her to America. Cradling the pysanka in her hands felt like holding a piece of her homeland and giving her Baba a hug.

Making pysanky made Marie feel a little more hopeful when the Russia’s Red Army invaded Ukraine and forbade anyone from speaking Ukrainian or practicing their traditions, pysanky included. It sustained her spirit when her son was off fighting in World War II, and again when she welcomed Ukrainian refugees into her home after the war. A hardworking entrepreneur, Marie founded the Ukrainian Gift Shop in Minneapolis to keep Ukrainian culture alive in America and share it with everyone."

Tantalizing taste:

"To Marie, making pysanky at Easter with Baba was magical. For the legend goes that as long as pysanky are decorated, there will be good in the world.

While pots filled with sunflowers and juicy red beets bubbled on Baba's stove to color the eggs in dazzling dyes, Marie cradled a chicken egg.

She grasped a kistka the way Baba had taught her and, with its warm beeswax flowing like ink, Marie sketched a story, a wish, a prayer, a gift.

Symbols of swirling, golden wheat. Blue flowers for beauty.

Rays of sunshine, streaming bright.

Roosters clucking at the sky."

And something more: The author, Sandra Neil Wallace, shared in the Author's Note: "When Russia's Soviet regime attacked or suppressed Ukrainian culture, Marie made preserving and amplifying the art of pysanky her life's work. And she succeeded.

At a time when most work spaces were closed to women and their entrepreneurship was discouraged, Marie stood out. Marie and her family also became renowned for designing Ukrainian eggs...The art form became a global conversation."

Sandra has a wonderful personal connection to this picture book biography: "Growing up, my Ukrainian grandmother, Baba Neilipovitz, shared many cultural traditions with us that she'd brought with her from Ukraine as a teenager, just like Marie - including making pysanky. I would later discover that the kistka that she'd held was a writing tool from the Ukrainian Gift Shop."