Refugees and Migrants, by Ceri Roberts, illustrated by Hanane Kai

It's important for children to gain a good understanding of the world around them.  Ceri Roberts's Refugees and Migrants (Children in Our World), with illustrations by Hanane Kai, introduces children to the concept of families being forced to leave their homes by war, natural disaster, famine, or other circumstances.  Being a children's book, those circumstances are not described in much detail.  But Roberts adequately describes the pain and difficulty of leaving home with few possessions or money and trying to make one's way in a new place.

This book would be especially valuable for children who have neighbors or classmates arriving from elsewhere.  In my part of the world, we had a large influx of domestic refugees fleeing New Orleans after Katrina.  My children have also had classmates from a variety of countries in Asia and Africa, not to mention from Mexico and points south.  Refugees and Migrants will help children like mine, who have lived in the same house for virtually all of their lives, have some sympathy and understanding for their newly arrived classmates.

Roberts doesn't get political.  Immigration is a human phenomenon before it is political.  And she doesn't address the terrorism Europe, and the U.S. have experienced, directly or indirectly as a result of immigration.  Children who read this book are too young to learn about rape and other crimes that have risen in some immigrant communities.  They will learn about those things eventually.  For now, make new friends, learn about other cultures, and be kind to others no matter where they are from or how they got here.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!