Over the river and through the woods…
‘Tis the season for journeys – whether fighting cross-town traffic to bag bargains, purchase perfect presents, or track down tasty treats, or joining the millions of Americans journeying by plane, train or automobile to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. It’s also, sadly, a season when migrants, those fleeing violence and/or lack of employment, continue to risk their lives and undertake perilous journeys in hopes of a better life.
This is such a difficult subject for young children and even adults, but I believe we must try to understand it, to picture ourselves in the story, to discuss it with children, which is why I’ve chosen today’s Perfect Picture Book.
Title: The Journey
Written & Illustrated By: Francesca Sanna
Publisher/date: Flying Eye Book (Nobrow Ltd)/2016
Suitable for Ages: 3-7 and older
Themes/Topics: refugees, migrants, journey, birds
Opening: “I live with my family in a city close to the sea. Every summer we used to spend many weekends at the beach. But we never go there anymore, because last year, our lives changed forever…”
Brief Synopsis: An unnamed narrator and her family flee from a warn-torn region.
Links to Resources:
- Learn more about the refugee experience with materials from Amnesty International and UNHCR;
- Choose three favorite toys or books that you’d bring on a journey;
- Discuss journeys you and your family have undertaken;
- Learn about animal migration.
Why I Like this Book:
The refugee crisis is such a difficult subject, but one that is, sadly, so timely. With a fairy-tale, storybook quality, particularly in the graphic, fantastical illustrations, this “collage” of refugee stories will, hopefully, enable adults to discuss the refugee experience with children and build empathy for those who have made journeys like the one described in The Journey. Spoiler alert: It also ends on a note of hope, of a new story in a new land for the child narrator and her family.
A Note about Craft:
In this debut picture book by author/illustrator Francesca Sanna, she has chosen to not name the Main Character, the place from which the family flees, or the place to which they journey, thus providing an Everyman-type of story. She also weaves references to books, stories, and storytelling throughout the text and illustrations, bolstering a theme that the journey described is just one of many journeys being undertaken. In an Author’s Note, Ms. Sanna shares that the story is a collage of stories learned by interviewing refugees.
Ms. Sanna tells much of the story in illustrations only. Her use of light and darkness and her inclusion of birds and sea creatures that undertake long journeys, as well as scary forest creatures during the border-crossing scenes, act as metaphors of the journeying family and provide a way to help adults discuss the story with children. By ending the story with a reference to, and an illustration of, migrating birds, Ms. Sanna leaves us with an image of safe nests and a sense of hope.
The Journey received starred reviews in Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and the School Library Journal. The New York Times Book Review also highlighted The Journey in an article about explaining the refugee crisis to children. To that list, I’d also add Two White Rabbits, which also uses animals as a metaphor for the migrating narrator.
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Books list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
Wander, Ponder, Write 
Wow. This looks like a really amazing treatment of the story. I am looking forward to seeing the illustrator’s viewpoint. I’ll look for The Journey. Thanks.
It is an amazing book, Joanne. There are so many details — a short review hasn’t done it justice.
Oh, I want to read this story! So happy to see a book that helps parents discuss the refugee situation with kids. Thanks for sharing!
You are most welcome!
I’m adding this book to my library list. The subject is not an easy one, and it seems the illustrations help to present this story in a kid-friendly, understandable way.
Definitely! Search for the birds on almost every page – a metaphor for the refugee situation for even younger kids.
We need these sorts of stories more than ever now, right?! I am going to see if my local library has it.
So true!
Very timely and interesting book. Looking forward to reading it.
Pingback: PPBF – Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – The Map of Good Memories | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – My Beautiful Birds | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – The Treasure Box | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – The Day War Came | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – Me and My Fear | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: PPBF – Marwan’s Journey | Wander, Ponder, Write
Pingback: My Twenty-Teens in Picture Books | Wander, Ponder, Write