Looking back at Refugee Week: books for children

Lajee Dancers in Glasgow

Last week was Refugee Week. In Scotland, it kicked of with a photo-call of a few of the acts performing throughout the week, including these talented young dancers who live in a refugee camp in Palestine. Aida Camp is crowded and insecure - how do you explain to children the sorts of lives these young people are living?

Step forward the amazing Zoe Toft who writes the award-winning blog Playing by the Book. All through Refugee Week she featured children's books about refugees. For example she both reviewed Azzi in between, about a young girl arriving in this country, and interviewed its author, Sarah Garland. She wrote about fiction for kids to make them think about life as a refugee and listed over 75 books about the refugee experience. Finally, she posted about 17 authors and illustrators who were themselves refugees, including famous names such as Judith Kerr and Eva Ibbotson.

Zoe's posts are often accompanied by suggestions for activities, written for her own children but adaptable for the classroom. Books about refugees are not just for Refugee Week - use them at any time to encourage children to empathise and learn to combat negative attitudes in society.

Eva Ibbotson 1925-2010

Eva Ibbotson's publisher, Curtis Brown, has made the sad announcement that she died on 20th October aged 85. Eva only started writing in her 50s, but she kept on right up until her death. We have some of her titles in our catalogue, including Journey to the river sea, which won the Gold Medal for the 2001 Smarties Prize and was written in honour of her deceased husband, a former naturalist, and Morning gift which features in our Love lessons reading list. It's a romance set in England and Vienna in World War Two - this reflects her background: she was born in Vienna in 1925 and moved to England with her father when the Nazis came to power. I took it on holiday with me this year and found it a great read. Below are the covers of the titles we have in stock:



Obituaries:
Books for Keeps
Booktrust
Guardian
Herald
Horn Book
New York Times
Nosy Crow
Scotsman

Older articles:
Books for Keeps, May 2002
Guardian 6/10/10