PPBF – Refugees and Migrants

This topics of today’s Perfect Picture Book continues to dominate the news, so a resource for parents and teachers to discuss them will be welcome, I’m sure!

Title: Refugees and Migrants, part of the Children in Our World series

Written By: Ceri Roberts

Illustrated By: Hanane Kai

Publisher/Date: Wayland, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Books/2018

Suitable for Ages: 6-9

Themes/Topics: refugees, migrants, non-fiction

Opening:

• Our home is the place where we spend time with the people we love, eat our favourite food, play with toys, and sleep in a warm bed.

Brief Synopsis: An exploration of refugees and migrants

Links to Resources:

• Refugees and migrants travel in many different ways from their home country to a new country. Draw a picture showing one or more ways to travel.
• Learn more about the refugee experience with materials from Amnesty International;
• Choose three favorite toys or books that you’d bring on a journey;
• Explore animal migration; a great place to start is Circle, reviewed here in 2016, and including several migration-related activitivities.

Why I Like this Book:

With straightforward, age-appropriate text, Roberts handles questions that many adults have trouble answering about who the refugees and migrants are, where they come from and where they journey to, why they make these journeys, and what it means to seek, and be granted, asylum. Perhaps most importantly, Roberts includes some ideas on what kids can do to help refugees.

Kai’s soft, muted illustrations provide a sensitive glimpse into the difficult lives of refugees and migrants and will, I think, help children empathize with them.

With Index, Glossary, and Find Out More sections, I think Refugees and Migrants would be a terrific addition to school and home libraries. Refugees and Migrants is part of a series that also addresses global conflict, poverty and hunger, and racism and intolerance.

A Note about Craft:

Refugees and Migrants is a straight-forward, non-fiction picture book targeted to the upper range of the picture book audience. By not focusing on a single person with a unique set of circumstances, I think Roberts enables children to think about the problem as a whole, rather than a problem that only affects a few children from one or two locations.

This Perfect Picture Book entry will be added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!