Refugees and Migrants

by Ceri Roberts, Hanane Kai (Illustrator)

Overview

With our 24/7 news cycle and constant access to the latest headlines, the world can be a scary place. Now imagine you're a child trying to make sense of it all! What does this news mean? How does it affect me? That's where Children in Our World can help. This beautifully illustrated non-fiction series takes a timely look at today's biggest issues and sensitively explains the crises that dominate the news in an appropriate way for young children. Each book uses relatable comparisons, carefully researched text, and striking illustrations to help kids understand the many difficulties that children just like them face in the world today. Refugees and Migrants discusses the questions "What does it mean to be a refugee or a migrant?" and "Why would people leave their homes?" It answers kids' questions, offers reassurance, and empowers them with ways they can help those affected. Where issues are not appropriate to describe in words, award-winning illustrator Hanane Kai uses a deft hand to create powerful illustrations that help children visualize the people impacted by poverty, hunger, war, racism, and more. All of the images are sensitively rendered and perfectly suited for younger children. These books are an excellent cross-curricular resource — use them to explore these important issues and tie them into discussions about food, wealth, compassion, empathy, and current affairs. (Ages 6-10)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438050201
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	08/17/2017
Series:	Children in Our World Series
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Hanane Kai is an award-winning illustrator who hopes to touch her audience with every illustration that she creates. In 2016, she won the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi New Horizons award for her work on the book Tongue Twisters.

Editorial Reviews

"Empower your kids (and yourself) with the knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a refugee or a migrant with this new release from B.E.S. Children in Our World series. It answers big questions, offers reassurances and lets kids know what they can do to help."
--Red Tricycle, redtri.com

"Using relatable language and explanations, this volume sensitively explores the plight of refugees and migrants. The coverage includes why and how people leave their home countries, refugee camps, asylum seekers, and the complicated process of determining where a refugee will ultimately live; suggestions for how to help are also provided. Kai's muted, reassuring illustrations enhance the lucid prose."
—The Horn Book

"A powerful opportunity for discussion with youngsters and a worthwhile purchase for home and school collections."
—School Library Journal

"The concept for this book is a good one."
—Catholic Library World

"How do you raise empathetic children? I believe that you raise empathetic children by inviting many kinds of people into your home, practicing grace and empathy in your daily life, and by helping children understand that there are many kinds of people and that because we are very fortunate, we must help those who are not so fortunate. I was particularly interested in the book Refugees and Migrants, because of my activities with Justice for our Neighbor, which is a ministry of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, my grandchildren have refugee children in their classrooms, so they wonder about them and don't understand why they don't speak English and need special help in their classrooms. I found this book to be very helpful in explaining difficult experiences to children. The text is easy to read with a topic on each page. The last two pages of text in the book allows children to "talk about it" and How Can You Help? These are important additions to a fact-based book because children are naturally empathetic and want to help. I also appreciated that there is a table of contents, a glossary, and an index in each book. A valuable addition to any elementary classroom and social studies curriculum."
--Miriam Downey, The Cyberlibrarian, http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.com

From the Publisher

2017-08-02
With this series entry, Roberts attempts to help readers understand that their peers in many parts of the world are suffering and becoming refugees because of "wars, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism." The book also speaks about migrants as people who "leave for a happier, healthier life, to join family members overseas, or because they don't have enough money and need a job." This effort aims to educate child readers, reassuring them that "most people have a safe and comfortable home to live in" and while "it can be upsetting to think about what life is like for refugees and migrants," kids can do something to help. Some practical suggestions are provided and websites included for several aid organizations. Companion title Poverty and Hunger, by Louise Spilsbury and also illustrated by Kai, follows the same format, presenting a double-page spread with usually one to three short paragraphs on a topic. A yellow catlike animal with a black-and-white striped tail is found in every picture in both books and seems an odd unifying feature. Mixed-media illustrations in muted colors feature stylized children and adults against handsomely textured areas; they exude an empty sense of unreality in spite of racial diversity and varied landscapes. By trying too hard to make comparisons accessible, Roberts ends up trivializing some concepts. Speaking about camping and refugee camps in the same sentence is very misleading. While this book and its companion appear to be meant for the lower elementary grades, these British imports will require too much adult intervention to be very useful. (bibliography, websites, glossary, index) (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews