Where Will I Live?

by Rosemary McCarney

Overview

Every child needs a home. Children need somewhere safe where they can be happy, eat their meals with their family, play with their toys, and go to sleep at night feeling unafraid. But many children all over the world have had to leave their homes because they are no longer safe. Because of war and conflict, they and their families have become refugees. For them life is hard and full of questions. In spite of everything, they find time to laugh, play, and make friends. And most importantly, they have hope that somewhere, someone will welcome them to a new home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772600285
Publisher:	Second Story Press
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Rosemary McCarney is Canada's former Ambassador to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva and past President and CEO of Plan Canada. She is the author of the internationally best-selling Every Day is Malala Day, Because I Am a Girl: I Can Change the World, The Way to School, and the Rosie the Red series.

Editorial Reviews

From beginning to end, Rosemary McCarney offers a message about the resiliency of children to endure their struggles and make temporary abodes wherever and whenever necessary until they can find a forever home, thus making Where Will I Live? a telling story that goes beyond loss and into the realm of hope.

CanLit for Little Canadians

Where Will I Live will help children appreciate the stability they have in their own lives and raise their cultural awareness of the plight of children worldwide. It addresses tough issues and belongs in every school library.

Children's Books Heal

This is a very moving book which could be used at any level to promote compassion and action on behalf of the many refugee children who are displaced and wandering the globe.

Resource Links

... the ultimate message, “I hope someone smiles and says ‘Welcome home.’ I hope that someone is you,” should encourage little ones to view these children with compassion, and that is valuable.

Booklist

Ending with the encouraging message that refugees are always looking for a smiling face and hoping to hear the words, “Welcome home!,” this book is a plea for charity and kindness for displaced people everywhere.

Catholic Library World

Important and timely, Where Will I Live? focuses on the plight of displaced children from around the world... Books like Where Will I Live? that can prompt discussions at home with our children of the many varied countries, cultures, and peoples will hopefully lead to better and more empathetic relationships as well as a desire to help make these families feel comfortable and welcome in their new home. Highly recommended.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Moving, heart-wrenching, and timely, Where Will I Live? will spark much thought and conversation.

National Reading Campaign

03/01/2017
Gr 1–4—A poignant photojournalistic look at the issues confronting refugee children and their families from the author of Every Day Is Malala Day. Photo spreads explore the challenges people, especially children, face when "scary things happen to good people." The text emphasizes universal fears that are magnified by conflict: Where will I live? Will I make friends? Will I be safe? Many of these refugees will make long and uncertain journeys in search of that sought-after new home, but the work ends on a positive note: "I hope someone smiles and says 'Welcome home.' I hope that someone is you." Photos are helpfully labeled by location. Although the images depict distressing situations, none are so explicit as to overly upset the audience. The true power of the book lies in its ability to spark classroom conversations, highlighting the need for cultural awareness and compassion. VERDICT Consider to prompt elementary school discussions on empathy for refugees.—Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH

School Library Journal

2017-01-17
A glimpse into the lives of child refugees as well as the resilience and endurance they exhibit in many forms.On the first page, readers see a darkly lit, full-page photograph featuring a group of adults and children bundled up and traveling at night in Croatia. Most of the group stares out at readers, and a line of plain text provides thematic context underneath the photo: "Sometimes scary things happen to good people." Each page follows this pattern, presenting, for example, a snapshot of a family posing on a road with their belongings in Rwanda or a child at sea near Greece while the accompanying captions attempt to underscore each situation. McCarney (Canada's ambassador to the U.N. and author of Every Day Is Malala Day, 2014) strings together a series of events occurring in countries as diverse as South Sudan, Hungary, and Iraq into an international quandary. How do children experience life as refugees? In Jordan, two children drag plastic containers behind them as they walk toward a city of tents, while two boys exemplify coolness with one in sunglasses and the other in safety glasses in Cameroon. Though the author aims to highlight a timely issue via sketches of conflict, her first-person narration strives for a universal tone that doesn't quite match the pictures, which hint at more by not revealing much. Peering into a fractured mirror reflects some hope back. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews