June 18, 2019

A youngCanLit booklist for World Refugee Day: June 20


People fleeing their home countries to find shelter from both man-created and natural calamities is not new. From Jews fleeing Spain in the 1400s to avoid conversion to Christianity to Syrian refugees displaced because of a war which started in 2011, the plight of refugees is historical and contemporary. Though a day designated for refugees was only designated in 2000, the United Nations created the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in 1950 and its purview continues to expand in scope. I hope this subset of youngCanLit titles will help young readers appreciate the scope of experiences by those displaced by conflict, persecution and natural disaster in seeking new homes across borders.

PICTURE BOOKS

The Banana-Leaf Ball
Written by Katie Smith Milway
Illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-12
2017
Reviewed here

From Far Away
Written by Robert Munsch
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press
24 pp.
Ages 4-7
1995

From Far Away (new edition)
Written by Robert Munsch and Saoussan Askar
Illustrated by Rebecca Green
Annick Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2017

Mustafa
Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
Groundwood Books
40 pp.
Ages 4-8
2018

My Beautiful Birds
Written and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-10
2017
Reviewed here

Out of the Blue
Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards
Scholastic Canada
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2018
Reviewed here

The Roses in My Carpets
Written by Rukhsana Khan
Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
2004

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey
Written by Margriet Ruurs
Artwork by Nizar Ali Badr
Orca Book Publishers
28 pp.
All ages
2016
Reviewed here

Story Boat
Written by Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Tundra
40 pp.
Ages 3-7
2020
Reviewed here

The Walking Stick
Written by Maxine Trottier
Illustrated by Annouchka Gravel Galouchko
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
22 pp.
Ages 6-9
1998





NOVELS AND SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Blue Gold
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press
304 pp.
Ages 13+
2014

A Cage Without Bars
Written by Anne Dublin
Second Story Press
160 pp.
Ages 10-14
2018
Reviewed here

Dance of the Banished
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pajama Press
288 pp.
Ages 12+
2014
Reviewed here
The Garden
Written by Meghan Ferrari
Red Deer Press
109 pp.
Ages 12+
2018
Reviewed here

A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk
Written by Jan L. Cotes
Red Deer Press
274 pp.
Ages 12+
2010

Manuelito: A graphic novel
Written by Elisa Amado
Illustrated by Abraham Urias
Annick Press
91 pp.
Ages 13-17
2019

Masters of Silence
Written by Kathy Kacer
Annick Press
265 pp.
Ages 9-12
2019

Mud City
Written by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
168 pp.
Ages 8-14
2003

Pieces of the Past : The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1948 (Dear Canada)
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
168 pp.
Ages 9-12
2013

Refuge Cove
Written by Lesley Choyce
Orca Book Publishers
128 pp.
Ages 12+
2002

Room for One More
by Monique Polak
Kar-Ben
232 pp.
Ages 12+
October 2019

Seeking Refuge
Written by Irene Watts
Illustrated by Kathryn Shoemaker
Tradewind Books
136 pp.
Ages 8-14
2016

Shanghai Escape
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
240 pp.
Ages 9-12
2013

Walking Home
Written by Eric Walters
Doubleday Canada
304 pp.
Ages 9-13
2014

The Whirlwind
Written by Carol Matas
Orca Book Publishers
244 pp.
Ages 12+
2007







NON-FICTION

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi refugees
Written by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood
128 pp.
Ages 8-14
2009


Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy’s Story of Survival
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch with Tuan Ho
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Pajama Press
40 pp.
Ages 6+
2016
Reviewed here

The Bite of the Mango
Written by Mariatu Kamara and Susan McLelland
Annick Press
216 pp.
Ages 13+
2008

A Cave in the Clouds: A Young Woman's Escape from ISIS
Written by Badeeah Hassan Ahmed with Susan Elizabeth McClelland
Annick Press
232 pp.
Ages 16+
2019

Rescuing the Children: The Story of the Kindertransport
Written by Deborah Hodge
Tundra
64 pp.
Ages 8-4
2012

The Ship to Nowhere: On Board the Exodus
Written by Rona Arato
Second Story Press
176 pp.
Ages 9-14
2016

Stay Silent: A Refugee's Escape from Colombia
Written by Natalie Hyde
Clockwise Press
144 pp.
Ages 10-15
2016

Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees
Written by Mary Beth Leatherdale
Illustrated by Eleanor Shakespeare
Annick Press
64 pp.
Ages 10-14
2017

To Hope and Back: The Journey of the St. Louis
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
204 pp.
Ages 11-14
2011

Too Young to Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to be Reunited with her Family
Written by Van Ho with Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pajama Press
152 pp.
Ages 8-12
2018
Reviewed here

What is a Refugee?
Written and illustrated by Elise Gravel
Schartz & Wade
32 pp.
Ages 8-10
September 2019

Where Will I Live?
Written by Rosemary McCarney
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 5-9
2017
Reviewed here

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