Amira's Magpie by Kate Gordon illustrated by Krista Brennan

A young girl named Amira sees a magpie outside her door. She admires his sharp black eyes and black and white patterned feathers. The magpie sings his song and Amira is sure he is saying hello and telling her of his journeys to far away places. Perhaps he could fly to her old home and visit her grandfather because he needs to know Amira is safe, and she is growing bigger. Amira's world is small. She has the blue sky and her black and white bird. She clings to her memories especially memories of her beloved grandfather. Where is Amira living? Why is she separated from her grandfather? She needs new shoes - who will buy them?

No mention is made of the word refugee on the publisher page for Amira's Magpie although they do use the word "escape". My interpretation of this story leads me to describe this as a book about a refugee child who has come to Australia. She is desperately missing her homeland which is perhaps Afghanistan and she is missing her beautiful grandfather. She befriends a magpie and then imagines the bird flying over the sea to her grandfather. The idea of her bird visiting him in his home far away brings her comfort.

Why do I think this is a refugee story? On one page we see Amira standing in front of a very tall wire fence. On another page she sits alone under a concrete wall. In the text we read she sits under "a small square of sky."  These words remind me of the view seen by a prisoner.

I checked the National Library of Australia cataloguing details for this book but no mention is made of refugees in the subject headings although asylum seekers are mentioned in their notes:

Amira's Magpie is a story of friendship, family and escape; of bravery and resilience in the face of hardship. It is the story of hope we find in small happinesses, even when it seems like all hope is lost. In the evocative and primarily monochrome illustrations, we see Amira living in some kind of compound. Her beloved grandfather lives a long way away, and as she remembers him, Amira imagines her magpie flying backwards and forwards between them, bringing news of home. In a beautifully lyrical way, this gentle yet powerful story reminds us of asylum seekers and anyone who longs for home. An outstanding book for older picture book readers and for education and awareness in schools.

Here is my Pinterest collection of picture books which explore the Refugee Experience. And here are a set of teachers notes from Lamont and Wombat Books. Here is the web site for Krista Brennan and Tasmanian author Kate Gordon. 

There are many things I like about this book:

• The restrained colour palette of grey, yellow and pale blue
• The understated story which invites readers to fill in the gaps
• The movement right to left and left to right on the end papers
• The front cover which is filled with emotion
• The relationship between Amira and her magpie
• The striking illustration of the magpie's eye which fills one page

I don't usually criticise the books I share on my blog but there are a few things about Amira's Magpie that I wish were better mostly in relation to the book design:

• I wish the book designer had chosen a different, softer and smaller font for the text
• On some pages the way the text is centred feels awkward and single words are left hanging
• The use of a capital letter at the start of each line is distracting
• Part of the text on one page is printed over the illustration making it a little difficult to read

Companion books:

Sonam and the Silence