We are like Birds by Laila Ekboir

 

I am a patchwork quilt made up of all the places I've lived.

Florencia is moving again with mum, dad and her baby brother. It is hard to fit into her new place. She plays a different sport (soccer) from the kids who play baseball. She speaks a different language (Spanish). Grandma is far away and they can only see her on a screen. But there are ways to make new friends. Sharing food with neighbors and inviting them to your birthday party which is filled with dancing and music. 

Blurb: Flor is only seven years old and has moved home three times. Now her family is moving again and she has to start all over again in a new country and a new school.

Mum says we are like snails ... Dad says we're like crabs ... Our neighbor says we're like a herd of elephants ... Grandma says we're like the moon, distant but always shining ... Mum says we're like dandelion seeds 

The perfect, uplifting story for any child who feels like they don’t fit in or who is worried about the prospect of moving country, home or school and having to start over. Books for Topics

For older readers there is perhaps more that could be drawn from the numerous analogies throughout the text between the family and the many animals their plight resembles: birds, snails, crabs. Perhaps this could inspire some reflective poetry, or encourage children to share the animal that they feel most reflects their own family’s journey. References are made also to puzzle pieces, seeds blown on the wind, and patchwork quilts which may help children to explore and share feelings about their family make-up, the movement of families around the world and the many reasons for such movement. Books for Keeps

Reading the bio of author Lalia Ekboir who comes from Argentina I discovered a new phrase: Third Culture Kid. It denotes a child who grows up in a culture different from the one their parents grew up in.

I noticed an unfamiliar publisher name on the cover of this book:

Kumusha Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, is a new inclusive list of globally inclusive, empathy-led, high-quality children's books, curated by publisher Ken Wilson-Max. Kumusha Books will publish a range of fiction and non-fiction, from board books for babies, to chapter books for emerging readers. Books to make positive and meaningful change to how we are all represented in children's books. ...  Our aim is to create books for all children to see themselves as they are and as they want to be; to feel at home though books.

I mentioned a book from Kumusha when I talked about the Inclusive Book Awards. 

Here is the webpage for Ken Wilson-Max. Decades ago I discovered this book and even though I do not own a copy (and sadly I am sure my previous library have probably disposed of it) A Book of Letters by Ken Wilson-Max remains a favourite book of mine.