These are two brand new Australian children's picture books on the theme of refugees. Both of these are sure to be part of our 2021 CBCA awards as Notable titles and on the final short lists.
A Boy and a Ball by Phil Cummings illustrated by Phil Lesnie (2020)
Publisher blurb: "The cloudless sky suddenly roared like thunder. Shadows, swift and frightening, descended. The boys brother grabbed him by the arm. Run, quickly, But my ball. Leave it.' From the Prime Ministers Literary Award shortlisted creators of Feathers, comes this compassionate tale of a familys search for a safe place to call home."
Text Quote: "The boy was hot ... then cold ... and always frightened. They sailed over reefs as treacherous as the shadows back home."
The story opens with a young boy playing with a soccer ball within the space of a destroyed city. The ball disappears into the distance but his brother grabs his hand and the pair run back to shelter with their father. As bombs fall around them the father tells his boys they are leaving. "You will have a new ball and you will run on grass, soft and green." The journey is long, terrible and very dangerous. They finally arrive. There is some grass in the new place but it is not soft and it is not green and this place is surrounded by high fences and gates. Outside looks better and there is some hope that one day the boy and his ball will find freedom and safety.
You can see other examples of art by Phil Lesine in A Soldier, a dog and a boy by Libby Hathorn and Once a Shepherd by Glenda Millard.
Here is a video of Phil Lesnie reading his book and here is one he has made for his publisher Scholastic where he talks about his design decisions and shows preliminary art ideas.
Anisa's Alphabet by Mike Dumbleton and Hannah Sommerville (2020)
Publisher blurb: "For many refugees the alphabet represents the start of a new language and a new future, but Anisa’s Alphabet is different. A poignant and highly imaginative telling of one girl’s story which will appeal to children and adults alike…Come with Anisa, and see things through her eyes. In this picture book, Anisa takes the reader though the alphabet, describing her journey from an unnamed war-torn country to a refugee camp, then on to an overcrowded boat towards supposed freedom and security."
Text Quotes: "C is for carrying all that we can"; "F is for fear always inside"; "P is for picturing life when I'm free".
This book is written as a poem. Mike Dumbleton uses each letter of the alphabet to take his readers on a journey with Anisa from her dangerous homeland, to a refugee camp filled with tents and scorching heat then onto the dangers of a journey led by people smugglers across the open ocean. The place at the end of her journey has high walls topped with barbed wire but Anisa carries hope in her heart. In her dreams which we see in her small drawings she imagines life will be better someday.
Teachers Notes
I have mentioned these two books together because, while both offer hope, both also end with the family in immigration detention. I think this makes the 'message' by Phil Cummings and Mike Dumbleton even more compelling, forceful, and telling.
I don't often mention publishers but in this case congratulations to Scholastic Australia, Midnight Sun, Penguin Random House, Windy Hollow Books and New Frontier Publishing. The topic of refugees is a complex but very important one and these books are perfect to use with senior primary school students and high school students. It makes me so sad to say Australia has a terrible record on the treatment of refugees but I celebrate the power of these books by Australian authors and illustrators.
I have a Pinterest collection on this topic. It would be good to continue this topic by exploring some other Australian picture books:
Publisher Blurb: "Based on real events, this is the moving story of a little refugee girl's brave journey across the sea to make a new life, far from home. This lyrical story is accompanied by stunning illustrations by the acclaimed Robert Ingpen. Ziba came on a boat. A soggy old fishing boat that creaked and moaned as it rose and fell, rose and fell across an endless sea ... "
Publisher blurb: "The most fundamental of all rights is an asylum seeker's
right to freedom. Zallah and her mother have escaped their war torn country and
are looking for safety in Australia. Instead of freedom they find themselves in
a refugee detention centre. Zallah struggles with the reason for this
punishment. A True Person is a moving story which highlights the bond between
Mother and Daughter in times of adversity. For Zallah there is a light at the
end of the tunnel and we celebrate with her as she realises what it means to be
A True Person."
Publisher Blurb: "The ‘Flight’ of this book may at first seem to be a
re-telling of the Christmas story, but the little family of refugees who travel
through this book are living in a time and place that is all too familiar from
the television news. In Armin Greder’s illustrations, the seemingly unending
line of the horizon shows that the journey will be long and arduous. In Nadia
Wheatley’s narrative, the sparse and understated words allow readers to
experience the characters’ fears and hopes for themselves. As the story ends,
and the child repeats his mother’s promise that they will find their new home,
we are left with the feeling that we want to help this family, and others like
them."
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