Elina Hashkova
I’m a new children’s author with a background in design and the humanities.
My goal is to write stories that help children find their inner strength and believe in themselves — and that give grown-ups a warm, natural way to talk with their children about the things that really matter.
How I came to writing
My writing didn’t start with a blank page. It grew out of hundreds of diary entries, notes on books I’d read, sessions with a coach and a psychologist — and a lot of thinking about childhood as the foundation of adult life.
As I work on myself, I keep coming back to my own beliefs and the patterns that shape my choices and the way I see myself. Step by step, it has become clearer to me that many of my doubts and limiting beliefs took root in childhood. In my mind I return there again and again, to support the little girl who needed so much to believe in herself.
One day I asked myself: how can we talk to children about the values that matter most in a way that gently shapes how they see themselves and the world?
The answer turned out to be obvious: through metaphor and fairy tales.
Children think in stories and pictures. For them a fairy tale is more than a format — it’s a safe space to think about the things that truly matter to them.
That personal question — how to help a child grow their belief in themselves from the very start — gave birth to my first story, “When the Little Seed Wakes Up”. I see it as a tool that creates a warm, trusting setting for an honest conversation between parent and child.
The story itself became a metaphor for inner growth, for overcoming fear and for finding your own strength.
My professional path
I started out at the faculty of psychology and sociology at H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv Pedagogical University. Later I earned a second degree in computer technology and design at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute.
That mix of knowledge sparked my lasting interest in how we perceive reality, how we learn to understand ourselves and which patterns guide our behaviour.
Today I work as a creative director, leading large-scale AI projects in the fashion and beauty industries. The solid foundation for this work is ten years in IT, designing B2B products and solving users’ problems through UX/UI design.
But whatever I’m doing in AI, creating new stories and the visual metaphors that go with them remains my constant work.
Thinking in pictures
Art is an essential part of my life. I draw, make collages and animation, and take part in art projects. One of my works is featured in Telia’s Estonian online exhibition, supported by the KUMU Art Museum.
I also volunteer as a multidisciplinary designer and writer of short scripts. Together with UAnimals, I made an animated film about helping animals in war zones — from the idea and script to the illustrations and animation.
Mission and plans
“When the Little Seed Wakes Up” is built on the principle of “I can”, formulated by Teutsch. This principle became a turning point in my own transformation and inspired me to share what I have learned through simple metaphors that everyone can relate to.
This theme will be the foundation of a future series of books about children’s emotional and moral development.