Refugee Stories, The Brontës, And More!

This nonfiction picture book uses graphic design to discuss immigration, with sections focusing on refugees and the many reasons people leave their home countries, including war. Chapters discuss borders, documentation, colonization, poverty, persecution, and more. The author/illustrator has also recently published a companion book, What is War? This book is probably best for older elementary-aged children and up.

This beautiful picture book is based on the author’s refugee experiences fleeing the partition of India in 1947. Azra knows she and her family are being forced to leave, and she plans to take her beloved doll with her. But when violence breaks out, she and her family flee earlier than expected, and she accidentally leaves the doll. When the family moves into a new home, she finds another doll that’s been left behind. The lovely illustrations depict the clamor as thousands attempt to flee via train, the despair and exhaustion on people’s faces, and also the love between Azra and her younger brother. Back matter includes a map of the partition in India, a glossary, more about life before and after the partition, and the author’s story.

I reviewed this picture book earlier in the year, but it’s worth adding to this list as it tells the story of Palestinian refugees in 1967. The simple story makes it easily relatable to children. Oraib was born in a refugee camp in Nablus, Palestine. She particularly loves the olive trees that grow around the camp, and she helps her mother harvest the olives and make many products from the olive trees. When war erupts, the family has to flee the camp before harvesting the olives. Before she leaves with her family, Oraib plants an olive pit, hoping to return one day and see the tree it grows into. This picture book is based on the author’s grandmother. I also recommend reading Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine by Hannah Moushabeck.

This picture book is told from the perspective of the 669 Prague Jewish children saved on the Czech Kindertransport by the British man Nicholas Winton right before WWII began. The children love their home and families and don’t understand what’s happening when their parents secure them train passports to leave Prague for England. They gather in the trains with other refugees, without their parents, worried about what is to come. When they arrive in England, they’re adopted into new families, though they never forget their parents. When the war is over they return to Prague to find their parents, but most never do. Their parents are gone. Fifty years later, they discover the identity of the man who secured their passage on the Kindertransport and saved their lives. Back matter includes a timeline of the Kindertransport movement and more about Nicholas Winton. The illustrations are beautiful and moving.