Regular readers know that I’ve read and reviewed many picture books from the past few years that recount the refugee experience. So when I saw reference in a recent Kidlit Frenzy post to one I hadn’t read yet, you can guess what I immediately did…
Title: Lubna and Pebble
Written By: Wendy Meddour
Illustrated By: Daniel Egnéus
Publisher/Date: Dial Books for Young Readers/2019
Suitable for Ages: 4-8
Themes/Topics: refugees; coping; friendship
Opening:
Lubna’s best friend was a pebble. It was shiny and smooth and gray.
Brief Synopsis: When a young girl and her father arrive in a tent city, the girl finds a pebble which helps her adjust to life in a strange location, far from the life and family she had known.
Links to Resources:
- Do you have a beloved stuffed animal, pet or other favorite object? What do you like to do with that pet or thing? How is your pet or favorite thing the same as or different from Pebble?
- Try making Taino petroglyphs, and learn about this ancient Caribbean artform;
- Explore rock and pebble crafts and try making some of your own.
Why I Like this Book:
Lubna and Pebble is a poignant new addition to the growing array of picture books that explore the refugee experience. Lubna’s story begins as she and Daddy land on a beach at night. Meddour leaves unstated the location of that beach, the origin of the ship, the reason why Lubna and Daddy left, and the fate of other family members. Instead, Meddour focuses on Pebble – the first thing Lubna finds and, along with her Daddy’s hand, something that Lubna knows would “keep her safe” at the refugee camp. Like a good friend, “Pebble always listened to her stories” about her brothers, home and war. “Pebble always smiled when she felt scared.” In short, Pebble was her “best friend”.
When a new boy arrives at the camp with “no words”, just “blinks and sneezes and stares”, Lubna knows what to do: she introduces him to Pebble, who elicits a smile from Amir. Lubna also knows what to do when she learns that she and Daddy have found a new home which means leaving Amir. I won’t spoil the ending, except to share that Lubna finds a way to comfort Amir, as only a friend can.
I really appreciate Meddour’s exploration of how a child who has lost almost everyone and everything finds comfort in an object, even a hard object like a pebble. I can envision many interesting conversations with even young children about what they find comforting and/or joyful, and what it means to find a true friend.
A Note about Craft:
Even before I knew the topic of today’s Perfect Picture Book or had seen the cover, I knew from the title that I had to read it, as I just had to know what, or who, Pebble was and what type of person, pet or object would be named “Pebble”. By personifying an object – using the object name as a proper name (the pebble v Pebble) and painting on a smile, Meddour makes Pebble into a character, encouraging readers to view Pebble as Lubna does.
I think it’s also interesting that Pebble is a new object, or friend, rather than a comforting relic from Lubna’s past. Doing this, I think, shows a break from the past, a new beginning that, hopefully, will help Lubna separate from the horrors she has experienced. And a pebble, unlike a rock or a stone, reminds me of stones I find at the beach, that are tossed around in the sea, tumbled until smooth, and cleansed of their hard-edged past, as, hopefully, the young refugees, Lubna and Amir, will be.
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
Title: Grumpy Pants
Wander, Ponder, Write 