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
Following her deeply moving The Journey (2018), Sanna tells the story of a young girl in a new country, whose anxieties get in the way. I have always had a secret. A tiny friend called Fear, she says in the opening pages. The small, marshmallowy creature helps the girl peek under the bed at night and back away from a scary dog, but in her new school, Fear gets big. Now, Fear surrounds the girl like a cloud. The swathe of white around the girl, which shoves the other colorful objects on the page aside, is a striking image of isolation. Sanna's cheerful, bubbly artwork in warm, welcoming colors emphasizes the potential for friendship and fun beyond her fear, and the girl's expressive face reveals precisely how frustrated she feels. A new friendship helps her take charge, and she soon spies other small, cloudy white companions with her classmates. It will be a familiar story for many children, but the girl's specific fears about language and difference might make this useful for discussions about newcomers as well.--Sarah Hunter Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"I have always had a secret," the dark-haired girl who narrates this story begins. "A tiny friend called Fear." She stoops to see the small, lumpy white figure with an uncertain smile. After the girl arrives in a new country, where it's storming outside, Fear grows as big as a room. "Fear hates my new school. When the teacher says my name wrong, she grows angry." In silkscreen-like spreads by Sanna (The Journey), milky blues, pinks, and ochres gentle the force of the story's feelings, and graceful curves give the compositions pleasing rhythm. Observant viewers will notice that while the girl wrestles with her worries ("I feel more and more lonely every day. Fear says it's because no one likes me"), a boy looks shyly at her. Friendship and, soon, a feeling of belonging follow. While Sanna articulates anxious feelings about immigrating ("I don't understand anyone and they don't understand me"), this creative depiction shows how friendship, empathy, and connection can help bring the overwhelming down to size for all. Ages 3-7. Agent: Andrea Morrison, Writers House. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A young girl has always lived with her "tiny friend called Fear"-depicted in Sanna's expressive illustrations as a small, shy-looking white blob-a constant companion who has always looked after her and kept her safe. However, since the child's arrival in a new country, "Fear isn't so little anymore." In fact, Fear grows large enough to fill a room and begins to dominate every aspect of her life. Fear doesn't want the child to go to school, becomes angry when the teacher mispronounces her name, and keeps her isolated from the other students at recess. In the artwork, Fear, now-giant sized and smug-looking, wraps herself around the child and holds her tight, a marshmallow buffer between the girl and the rest of the world. "I feel more and more lonely every day. Fear says it's because no one likes me. Well, I don't like it here." Everything changes when a boy reaches out a hand in friendship, and reveals that he too has "a secret fear"-in fact, everyone does. The pastel-hue illustrations provide visual representation of an abstract concept and facilitate understanding and discussion. Authentic and immediate, the first-person narration draws in readers and reveals just how easily fear can become overwhelming and isolating, but can also be controlled when feelings are shared and through comfort found in friendship. -VERDICT Like Sanna's The Journey, this book about an immigrant's experiences tackles a tough topic with honesty, empathy, and a sense of hopefulness. A must-purchase.-Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs © 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 Horn Book Review
This follow-up to The Journey (rev. 3/17), about a refugee family fleeing a war-torn homeland, focuses on the young daughters apprehension as she adjusts to life in a new country and a new school. In the previous book, death was abstracted as a black blob with menacing inky tendrils; here, fear is a puffy, white, somewhat amorphous character (with something of a sense of humor), often indistinguishable from the surrounding negative space, whose size fluctuates according to circumstances. And while fear is a constant companion, she is not necessarily a sinister one. Fear is a burden, to be sure, but one that also functions as a buffer between the girl and what Fear perceives to be danger or injustice (Fear hates my new school. When the teacher says my name wrong, she grows angryeven though I know it was just an accident). When the girl befriends a boy in her class, she sees he has a fear of his own, and soon discovers that everyone has one. The final pages depict a classroom and a playground full of children and their fears, who appear small, soft, and smiling, suggesting their presence in ones life as not something to be overcome but, rather, understood and embraced. A brief authors note acknowledges the many refugee children who shared their stories as well as the help of The Reluctant Internationalists project at Birkbeck, University of London. thom barthelmess (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this companion to The Journey (2017), Sanna reminds readers that the journey for refugees is far from over even after they find a new home.Featuring the same black-haired, pale-skinned, refugee family from Sanna's previous book, this installment follows the daughter of the family of three as she adjusts to life in their new country of residence and tries not to let her fear overcome her. Fear is a secret "tiny friend" first portrayed in a positive light as a factor that has "kept me safe." But being in a new place is overwhelming, and her fear has grown exponentially, both in size and in stubbornness, preventing the narrator from exploring her new world. Fear brings loneliness, self-doubt, and sleepless nights, but it also causes her to rationalize her solitude, believing that those around her cannot and will not understand or like her. When a friendly boy finally connects with her, the narrator is able to manage her fear and realizes that he and others at school also have their own fears that they must manage. Though the fears are sometimes depicted as large, angry, or apprehensive, they are generally small, smiling, ghostlike creatures that are companions to all. Read without the previous book's context, there are no cultural markers to indicate the family's background, just text indicating that the family is in a new country, is learning the language, and that the girl's teacher has a hard time saying her name. The narrator's classmates have various skin tones and hair color.A universal book that can be used to explain fear to readers and give empathy to those in a new environment. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
