Story Boat

October 28, 2019
Maclear (Operatic) captures in lyrical verse the lives of two young refugees, for whom “here” is a different place every day. In warm, childlike drawings on blue pages, Kheiriyeh (Saffron Ice Cream) portrays a group of people dressed in thick overcoats, their belongings loaded in carts and suitcases, helping each other. A girl in the group speaks to a smaller boy about the few treasured belongings that give meaning to their existence. Their teacup is one: “Every morning,/ As things keep changing,/ We sit wherever we are/ And sip, sip, sip.../ From this cup.” A page turn corresponds to a new perception: “And this cup is a home.” Kheiriyeh draws the children within the cup underneath a bright orange sun. More cherished objects—the family’s blanket (“patterned and soft”), their lamp, a field of flowers—become the children’s “here.” And as the blanket becomes a sail, the lamp a lighthouse, and so on, the objects combine, becoming a boat that carries everyone over the waves, and a story that takes the group at last to a welcoming place. The creators tell a refugee story in simple language with everyday objects, making it graspable for young readers. Ages 3–7.

December 1, 2019
Preschool-G The immigrant's travels are never easy, especially when those leaving flee with urgency. Here the group embarking on their journey includes two children who describe their encounters and what things ease their distress. A familiar cup, especially when it's filled with a hot drink, is comforting. Or a blanket the color of apricots can be enough to feel warm and safe. And children being children, still use their imaginations despite circumstances, with the blanket becoming a boat sail for a teacup craft that takes the children away, even if it's to a refugee camp, where singing can still occur. This is a book that will need explanation, particularly the plight of refugees in general and these people in particular, since there are no stated reasons for the leave-taking. The eye-catching folk-style artwork done primarily in orange, blue, and black places the accent on the humanity and hopefulness of the refugees rather than exhaustion and despair, though that too comes out in a few of the adult faces. This puts a gentle face on a difficult, worsening problem.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 15, 2019
A poetic distillation of the experience of a group of refugees, always moving from one "here" to another "here." A group of refugees is on a journey, with backpacks, bags, babies, and a cat. It's winter. Some people are sad, and a few women wear loose headscarves. Two children chat along the way about their movement through a quietly surreal landscape. "Here is just here. / Or here. / Here is this cup. / Old and fine, warm as a hug. / Every morning, / As things keep changing, / We sit wherever we are / And sip, sip, sip, / Sippy, sip, sip / Ahhhh / From this cup." The children find home in rituals and tradition, community, objects of warmth and memory, and hope. Maclear and Kheiriyeh brilliantly portray refugees as people first. Their child protagonists, possibly a girl and her young brother, dream, sing, read, write, draw--even the cat draws--and make the best of what they have. In the end, the story about their journey becomes the titular boat, which has carried them along. Kheiriyeh uses smudgy lines and a limited palette of orange, black, brown, and white on blue negative space, refugee tent camps giving way to fantastical land- and seascapes the children imagine. The love shared among the group is plain. When they get to their destination, they don't look too different from the few people welcoming them--save hair color. A timely and uplifting book about and for refugees. (Picture book. 6-10)

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