Posts Tagged with global empathy

Maisie’s Scrapbook by Samuel Nash and Jo Loring-Fisher

Posted on

 

Maisie’s scrapbook is a gentle but inspiring story about a girl who is brought up by parents from two different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In many respects it is a simple story, about the little things in life. From playing hide and seek with her mum to watching the stars and the sunset with her dad. Her two parents, nurture, play and chat to their daughter, helping her blend two cultures and become her own person. It is cleverly linked to the passing of the seasons, which gives lots of emotion and atmosphere.  The colourful collage like illustrations by Jo Loring-Fisher are wonderful and really bring the tale to life.  The fact that the story progresses over different seasons has enabled the illustrator to make good use of a range of warm and bright colours, which add so much more to the story’s message. It is quite a tricky story to review as the subtle interplay between the words and the text give it it’s own special magic.

It is great to see a mixed race family doing ordinary things together. It is also a celebration of a parents love for their child, and how both parents and their child often ‘grow’ together in their understanding of themselves and their place in the world.  This is a story that will resonate across cultures and with all sorts of  families. There are also some wider messages. These includes celebrating differences, whilst also recognising that people can be different but work towards the same goal in a mutually supportive way, in this case bringing up their own child.  It would make a heart-warming addition to any home or school library, and I would highly recommend it for any child or parent.

I also wanted to see what a mixed race family made of this story. So I leant it to a mum called Emily. She is white and her husband is from Jamaica (where he was born and raised), they have a mixed-race toddler.

Emily’s review:

“Maisie’s Scrapbook is a refreshing read for the young and old. Maisie’s parents have grown up in very different cultures, this story highlights some of the cultural contrasts faced by mixed race partnerships.  Although Maisie is adventurous; she’s grounded by the love of her parents. They have different cultural references and they use different words to describe the same thing, ‘Mama says tomato. Dada says aamo’, but they love and nag her in the same way. “

“I enjoyed the way the author portrays the differences between the parents through the eyes of Maisie and how each parent contributes to raising her to be herself. The illustrations are beautiful and compliment the story well. Hopefully more stories like Maisie’s will help a generation of mixed children feel more visible.”

 

Thank you to Lantana Publishing for a review copy. You can find out more about their books here.
You can find out more about the author Samuel Narh here.
You can find out more about the illustrator Jo Loring-Fisher here.
You can buy it direct from Lanta publishing or  me at Readers that Care or  a good local independent bookshop.

Tomorrow by Nadine Kaadan

Posted on

 

Already a fan of the illustrator and author Nadine Kaadan I was delighted to receive a copy of her new book Tomorrow to review from Lantana Publishing. I have a particular interest in picture books that help children understand others experience of war and about refugees. This story is unique in a number of ways. Instead of focusing on people fleeing their country it focuses on the experience of a boy in his home as it is besieged by war.

Tomorrow tells the story of a small boy called Yazan who lives in war torn Syria. It is told from a unique perspective as you don’t actually see the war. Instead you get to feel what the immediate effects are for Yazan, as everything changes around him. Changes include no more trips to the park, not being able to see his friends, no school (which he actually begins to miss) and his mother becomes withdrawn. The boys experience is sensitively portrayed and great attention is given to gradually building up all the small things Yazan is not able to do because of the war.

The message of the story is beautifully supported by the authors own drawings, which help to convey powerful emotions and to reflect the boys feelings and experiences in a way that is meaningful to children. A simple colour palette of black, yellow and read is very effective. Black for sadness, fear and anxiety, red for happy memories and red and yellow for hope.

There are some lovely messages in this story. It is a powerful story of a family supporting each other in the most difficult of circumstances and in the power of imagination and art to bring hope to the darkest of moments. Towards the end of the story Yazan’s mother draws a picture of the park he can not play in and says:

“But let’s paint a park in your bedroom – an amazing park with everything you’ve ever dreamed of. And soon you’ll be able to go outside and play again.”

In some ways the messages in this story are very simple, helping readers of all ages to build empathy with the young boys experience of living through war. Yet the pictures convey some powerful emotions that some children may find upsetting and need help to understand. When using with a group of children I would be tempted to start with the last picture first and ask, what they liked about their local park and how would they feel if they could not go to it.  My 7 year old son initially found some of the pages ‘quite dark’. But when we explored the use of red and yellow colours in the story he could also see there was hope in the story too.

Whilst not shying away from powerful emotions it protects the reader from the worst of the war in several ways. For example: Whilst, his mum does become sad and withdrawn at the beginning, Yazan doesn’t loose either of his parents in the story, they are still together at the end. Another example is you learn about the war outside from a little distance, through a TV Screen, which I thought was really clever.

I would highly recommend this for children aged 6+ and young people and adults. It is a great story which encourages empathy and offers multiple opportunities as springboard for discussion.

Another of Nadine Kaadan’s wonderful picture books Jasmine Sneeze, would make a great contrast to this story as it is set in a peaceful Syria.  You can read my review here.

The book can be published direct from the Lantana publishers here.

It is also available from me through Readers that Care 

Exploring immigrant children’s experiences in Britain through comparing two fictional stories.

Posted on
The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan 12+ years
Nadine Dreams of Home by Bernard Ashley 8+ years (reading age 7)

 

This is the fourth and final post of my global empathy posts focusing on stories that could help to build an understanding of immigrants, immigration and our global connections. I consider two stories of children’s experiences shortly after they arrived in Britain. Kasienka is a 13 year old from Poland. Nadine (primary school age) has fled from Goma. It struck me that the setting in Britain may make it easier for children to identify with them.

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan is a story written as a set of poems. I found this very powerful, particularly at communicating feelings and emotion. Nadine Dreams of Home by Bernard Ashley is one of Barrington Stokes shorter reads for 8 to 12 year olds. I love Barrington Stokes commitment to producing ‘super readable’ books with tinted page, clear readable fonts, and text levels set to certain reading ages. But, stories like Nadine Dreams of Home are so great that they should be shared. Both, stories deserve a place in every library (including in the adult section!). I nearly compared another book with Sarah Cossan’s story. But, when I read Bernard Ashley’s story I realized that the two books would be great together. It fascinated me how I immediately started looking for similarities between the two girls lives and how by doing so I felt I understood each one better. Each girl’s story enhanced the other. I will now highlight some of the similarities.

Firstly, both girls arrive in Britain, with their mum, but without their fathers, which as they express in their own words meant ‘their families were incomplete’. Kasienka came to England with her mum from Poland, looking for her missing father. Nadine, her mum and brother left war torn Goma (in the Congo) leaving her father behind in the hands of the rebels. Both authors have managed to convey  well the emotions and feelings of each child as they grapple with a new school, new life and new country.

Secondly, both children struggle at first with understanding their new language of English. I love how this is captured in the poem of Kasienka’s First Day:

“So what’s your name dear? Mrs Warren asks,

And I’m glad because I was afraid she had mistaken

Me for someone called Dear,

And that I would have to

Respond to that name

For ever. “

p10 The Weight of Water Sarah Crossan

Thirdly, it is interesting how technology is brought into each story, and used to resolve some of their issues. Kasienka’s mum uses a computer to search for her missing husband. Nadine’s classmate helps her to find a picture of her beloved Goma on a computer in the library. Then memories come flooding back of what she has left and her concerns for her father’s safety.

“In front of Nadine was a page of unreadable writing, but what grabbed her eye was a picture. A picture she knew.

A picture of Goma! There was no mistaking it – a scene of banana trees by Lake Kiviu and, in the background, the great Cow Herd mountain. “

p17-18 Nadine Dreams of Home: Bernard Ashley

Fourthly, both girls find ways to deal with their unfamiliar worlds and the emotions and uncertainties in their lives. For Nadine it is the safe haven of the weekly trip to the library, where she can view a picture of Goma, which helps her to feel connected to what she has lost. For Kasienka through swimming, she’s connected to her past (her daddy taught her to Swim) and it also gives her hope. Through swimming she makes a new friend, who becomes her boyfriend, and it’s also a way for her to release her emotions.

It is really powerful how many of Kaienka’s and Nadine’s experiences are similar to other children. In fact some British children will identify much in common. Themes include: finding your way around a new school, being misunderstood, bullies and bullying, absent or distracted parents, and that realisation that no matter how bad things get there are ways forward and people to help.

There is plenty for discussion in looking at what is the same and what is different. A key difference is Kasienka and her family are immigrants and Nadine is a refugee. In Brexit Britain, where children are receiving a lot of mixed messages both stories could be really valuable in building empathy and understanding.

Whilst writing this I noticed a blog post  by That Boy Can Teach @thatboycanteach  In which he and the book he referred to Reading Reconsidered (1) talked about the value of paired text’s. In this context they were talking about the concept of ‘embedding non-fiction’ by paring a non fiction book with a fiction book (2) Benefits of doing this include: helping to provide context and build understanding, and that what you absorb from both texts goes up. In conclusion to his post he points out:

“Pairing two fiction texts can be powerful in many ways as mentioned above, particularly if both stories are based on true events.” (2)

Which I found was very much the case in reading these two stories, which are fictional but based on real children’s experiences.

* (1)  Reading Reconsidered: A practical guide to rigorous reading instruction by Lemov, Driggs, Woolway: 2016.

*(2) ‘Teaching Reading: Pairing Non-Fiction with Fiction’ on the http://thatboycanteach.blogspot.co.uk

Please note: Sarah Crossan’s book is a young adult title and therefore may not be appropriate to use in a primary classroom. However, I think children aged 10 year and above would really appreciate much of the story and the language too. One way round this would be to use some of the poems, which could work provided they were kept in sequential order.

Children’s books which could help build global empathy and understanding

Posted on

How we interact with the world around us has always been something which has interested me. Political events in Britain in 2016 and their aftermath have made me realise not everyone understands the migrant or immigrant experience and that children’s books can have an important role in building global empathy and understanding. Featured below are 5 books that can help children and adults explore these issues. Each is written from a child’s perspective. The stories deal with complex issues, and are not afraid to deal with traumatic and difficult situation’s, but in a sensitive way that the very best of children’s authors know how to do. Despite the sometimes difficulties circumstances the children and their families face they provide hope of the ability for children to survive, and the capacity for humans to adapt and change, such a vital message.

This selection of children’s books to help build global empathy and understanding about refugees experiences and other ways we are all connected include: a picture book, a story written in prose and chapter books at different reading levels. They are all shorter stories, proving that stories that really make you think don’t have to be long ones!

[wysija_form id=”1″]