The rapid changes in the political make-up in our world is rippling through nations and is impacting of all us. These are very difficult times and it is difficult, as well as not wise, to shed children from this reality which will undoubtedly affect them. Children’s books offer a channel to touch on these subjects …
immigration
Wordless Picturebooks: “A Voice for the Voiceless” Part 1
“A Voice for the Voiceless”. This is how Shaun Tan describes his picturebooks, and more particularly The Arrival in his article for the October 2011 edition of Bookbird “The Accidental Graphic Novelist” ( you can also access it for free here, and I urge you to read it). He continues by saying that graphic novelists (citing artists …
The Weight of Water
Sarah Crossan(Bloomsbury Children’s Books) Kasienka’s father has left her mother and moved to England. The mother, persuaded that she can make him change his mind, uproots Kasienka’s whole life, fitting it into a suitcase and a laundry bag, and they arrive in Coventry. Forced to live in a bedsit, Kasienka and her mother must get …
Shadow
Michael Morpurgowith illustrations by Christian Birmingham(Harpercollins Children’s Books) When Matt goes to spend the summer with his grandfather and his dog, he has no idea that he is very close to his friend Aman, who was suddenly taken from his home with his mother weeks ago and is now imprisoned in a nearby detention centre, Yarl’s Wood, …
Tall Story
Candy Gourlay(David Fickling Books) Andi is short, very short, but she loves basketball and has finally made it into her school’s team as point guard. But unfortunately, her mother too has good news: the house they have been trying to buy to leave their shoebox of a flat is suddenly theirs and they have to …