Review by New York Times Review
WHETHER THEY ARE nostalgic reveries of those who came long ago to this nation of immigrants, or the brutal nightmares of worldwide millions fleeing war, violence and persecution today, memories of migration matter. Telling these stories seems more important than ever - even, and some might say especially, to children. A wave of picture books has arrived to help with this difficult task. THE DAY WAR CAME (CANDLEWICK PRESS, 32 pp.; ages s ?? 8), Nicola Davies's poetic response to the impact of governmental refugee policies - first published in 2016 on The Guardian's website - has now been turned into a picture book, with colored pencil and watercolor illustrations by Rebecca Cobb. After a serene opening featuring a happy little girl at home and school, war arrives with shocking suddenness; gray smoke and ash fill the pristine white pages. "War took everything. War took everyone," Davies writes. Fleeing with others to physical safety, the child, tainted by her refugee status, is rejected repeatedly. Finally, while she is curled into the corner of a dark page in a vivid vision of despair, other children come to nudge her out of hopelessness, "pushing back the war with every step." Davies's powerful words are sensitively represented by Cobb in simple child-centered illustrations, making this an accessible book for those young readers ready to engage with this difficult topic. MEMORY IS WHAT maintains hope in marwan 'S JOURNEY (MINEDITION,36PP.; AGES S TO 7), which was written by Patricia de Arias, illustrated by Laura Borras and first published in Chile in 2016. Young readers are dropped directly into a young boy's trek away from his unnamed war-torn homeland: "I take giant steps even though I'm small. One, two, three ... crossing the desert." A photograph of his mother generates happy remembrances for Marwan, helping him to keep going through the barren landscape to safety. The evocative and lyrical text is brought to life through Borras's ink-and-watercolor illustrations, the brown desert of the boy's present contrasting with the colorful images of his past. By the end, having reached safety, the optimistic Marwan dreams of returning home to a place where "the night never never never goes so dark again," one filled with splendid treelike rays of sunlight. IN CAMILLE ANDROS and Julie Morstad's THE DRESS AND THE GIRL (ABRAMS, 40 PP.; ages 4 to 8) an item of clothing becomes a connection between old and new. Lovingly made by a Greek mother, the dress is worn by her daughter on a voluntary migration, one filled with hope "for something singular, stunning or sensational. For something extraordinary." Welcomed by the Statue of Liberty, the family disembarks in early-20th-century New York, and the dress is misplaced. After years traveling the world, the garment reunites with its original owner, now perfect for her daughter. Andros's words are well matched with Morstad's evocative artwork, conjuring a gentle, lyrical version of what used to be the dominant American immigration story. FOR ALFREDO ALVA, the recollection of his arduous childhood journey from his central Mexican home village to Texas is something he wants others to know about, too. In LA FRONTERA: EL VIAJE CON PAPA: MY JOURNEY WITH PAPA (BAREFOOT BOOKS, 48 PP., $17.99; ages 4 to 8), written with Deborah Mills, he tells of a difficult and frightening trip with his father, one that includes hunger, thirst, exhaustion and fear of discovery. Told in side-by-side Spanish and English text, Alva's story is brought to life by Claudia Navarro's vivid acrylic, graphite and digital collages and given broader context with several pages of information on borders and immigration after the main story. When President Reagan offers amnesty to undocumented migrants of the time, the boy and his father gain citizenship and the rest of the family is able to come to America. Sadly, children and their parents making the same journey today do not have this opportunity. SOME MIGRATION EXPERIENCES are better forgotten. In SPECTACULARLY BEAUTIFUL (POW! kids, 32 pp.; ages 3 T07), written by Lisa Lucas, a Canadian schoolteacher, and illustrated by Laurie Stein, schoolchildren are asked to remember their birthplaces. Some draw favorite foods, happy activities with friends, and special family gifts while Shahad grimly centers hers on "the bricks that made my eyes look like this ... and my leg ... like this." Daily compliments from the teacher, starting with the little girl's yellow hair ribbons, bring tiny smiles that become beams of happiness when the adult says with enormous conviction: "I think you are spectacularly beautiful!" Stein's illustrations - black-and-white photographs of the classroom, school and nearby areas, populated with cartoon images done with the simplest of lines and filled in with flat colors (two tiny crosshatched scars on face and leg are all that differentiate Shahad) - effectively bring out Lucas's poignant parable. RECOVERY FROM DIFFICULT MEMORIES IS also at the heart of Francesca Sanna's me AND MY FEAR (FLYING EYE, 40 PP.; AGES 3 T07). "I've always had a secret," begins the child protagonist, "a tiny friend called Fear." At first, Fear - represented as a small white cuddly creature along the lines of a stuffed animal - helps her tackle such familiar childhood situations as monsters under the bed, but then the tone shifts as we learn that "since we came to this new country, Fear isn't so little anymore." Indeed, the creature gets bigger and bigger as the child copes with the trials of a new place, language and people. But then, a peer reaches out, wanting to play, and is able to show his own Fear. With its warm palette and gentle scenes of the worried child being comforted, this book could function as a sequel to Sanna's astounding debut picture book, "The Journey," which recounted a family's dangerous flight from their home in a war zone. Sanna provides an empathetic exploration of the adjustment to a new land that all migrants experience. SOME BOOKS EXIST to answer questions. These, with their heart-wrenching moments and striking imagery, are certain to provoke questions, especially for young readers unfamiliar with the harsh realities of today's refugees and migrants. What happened to the little girl's family? Why did it take so long for Alfredo to see the rest of his family again? Where is Marwan's mother? Why does Shahad have scars? Who is doing this to them? And - most frightening of all - could this happen to me? Because of this, these are not books for children to read on their own. They should experience them with caring adults who are ready to answer their questions and support them as they learn more about some of the world's darker truths. MONICA EDINGER, a fourth-grade teacher in New York City, is the author of "Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad." She blogs at Educating Alice.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 23, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Alfredo Alva and his family love their life in the Mexican village of La Ceja, where Papá and Abuelo gather pine nuts from trees and stack corn. When Abuelo can no longer help, Papá can't provide enough for the family. Abuelo tells Papá he must travel somewhere with better opportunities, and soon a man called Coyote comes to receive payment to help Papá, with Alfredo in tow, cross the Frontera the border into Texas. After Alfredo and his papá cross the Rio Grande in an inner tube, they realize that Coyote has abandoned them, and so they begin the perilous journey on their own, walking for days, sleeping on rocks, and avoiding snakes and scorpions. When they finally arrive at their new home, Alfredo begins school, keeping to himself until a teacher facilitates him making friends and learning English. Four years later, the rest of Alfredo's family finally joins them. Alfredo's true story is conveyed in the calm, peaceful tone of a child and illustrated with distinctive, emotional images that show the brutal (but never overly frightening) struggles as well as the moments of happiness. So simple but so beautiful, the story depicts what many must go through when seeking a better life in America. Strong back matter includes a map and further details about Alfredo's journey, as well as info and photographs regarding immigration.--Paz, Selenia Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Drawn from coauthor Alva's own immigration as a child, this bilingual picture book pairs Spanish and English text on each richly colored spread. In the Mexican state of Guanajuato, Alfredo learns that he will leave behind his mother and siblings and travel with his father to the U.S. to "find a place where work will be plentiful." The trip is perilous; after they're abandoned by a guide, they find their way across the dangerous landscape to Texas, where, after a stay in the so-called Embassy, a collection of discarded vehicles, they resettle, ultimately reuniting with their whole family. Precise details create a deeply moving sense of a young immigrant's journey, from the drinking water dropped along the tracks by train crews to a new school, where Alfredo always brings a $100 bill in case he's picked up and returned to the border. With bright, saturated colors and expressive figures, the illustrations echo both the story's drama and tenderness. Appended final spreads feature photos of Alva's real-life family along with additional notes about the Texas-Mexican border and immigration. Ages 8-12. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Alva, along with coauthor Mills, narrates his experiences as a young child crossing the Mexican and U.S. border with his father. Their journey is prompted by financial needs that force Alva and his father to sadly leave behind the rest of the family and travel north with the help of a coyote, a smuggler of people. At the Rio Grande, the coyote takes their money and abandons them. Together, the father and son find their own way to the embassy. After floating across the river, climbing a mountain, and trudging across a giant valley, they arrive at their destination only to discover that the embassy is nothing more than a broken-down campsite inhabited by other refugees. After a few short weeks, Alva is off to school in Texas, alone and scared. Learning a different language is confusing, but with the help of new friends, he learns English while helping them with their math. Alva and Mills make this bilingual autobiographical story readily accessible through well-written and vivid text. Though lengthy, the narrative never feels overwritten. Navarro's expressive acrylic, graphite, and digital collage illustrations provide a poignant and moving backdrop for this compelling first-person narrative. Back matter includes information on immigration, a history of the U.S. and Mexican border, and photos of Alva's family and hometown. VERDICT An authentic and humanizing perspective on immigration; a must-have for classrooms, libraries, and bilingual collections.-Mary Margaret Mercado, Pima County Public Library, Tucson, AZ © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Co-authors Mills and Alva demystify la frontera in this autobiographical tale based on Alva's childhood journey with his father from Mexico to Texas. To provide for his growing family, Alfredo's father decides to journey northward to "find a new home." Alfredo joins his pap on this arduous voyage, knowing he'll miss his family and his small village. After saying goodbye to his home and loved ones, Alfredo sets off in the early morning light alongside his father. Led to the Rio Grande by el coyote, Papa and Alfredo cross the river with the help of an old inner tube. When el coyote abandons Alfredo and his father, the pair must escape further into the harsh Texan landscape, away from la frontera. Presented in both Spanish and English, the retrospective narrative overflows with grueling, poignant details about the journey Alfredo and his father undertook. Yet Navarro's mixed-media artwork succeeds in emphasizing the more-hopeful aspects of Alva's story, namely love and strength in a familial context. Vivid shifts in color, light, and shadows from scene to scene gently pull readers along, complemented by powerful facial expressions during key moments. After almost a week of struggles, Alfredo and his father arrive at "the Embassy," a makeshift camp behind a factory. As father and son adjust to their new life in the U.S., they never forget about those left behind.A timely, necessary read. (appendix) (Picture book. 8-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
