Resource Archive
posted on 18 Jun 2018
A (revised) selection of recommended books for children (and some for adults too) that include stories about asylum seekers and refugees from around the world
Every year more and more books appear for readers of all ages that explore the experiences of being an asylum seeker or a refugee. Letterpress Director, Karen Argent, tries to keep abreast of as many as she can and adds them to our ever growing resource list. Here is the revised version of that list for June 2018.
Picture books and graphic novels (please note that these not necessarily aimed at young children)
- Alpha by Bessora Barroux in association with Amnesty International
- A Story like the Wind by Gill Lewis, illustrated by Jo Weaver, endorsed by Amnesty International
- Azzi in Between by Sarah Garland in association with Amnesty International
- Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek
- Dreams of Freedom in association with Amnesty International
- For Every Child in association with Unicef
- Habibi by Craig Thompson
- Kasia’s Surpise by Stella Gurney
- Meltem’s Journey by Anthony Robinson, illustrated by June Allan
- Mr Benjamin’s Suitcase of Secrets by Pei- Yu Chang
- My name is not Refugee by Kate Milner, endorsed by UNICEF UK*
- Refuge by Anne Booth & Samuel Usher
- The Arrival by Shaun Tan
- The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Karin Littlewood
- The Island by Armin Greder
- The Journey by Francesca Sanna*
- The Mediterranean by Armin Greder*
- The Silence Seeker by Ben Morley
- Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levinson, illustrated by Diane Goode
- We are all born free in association with Amnesty International
Suitable for Key stages One and Two readers (and above)
- Do you speak Chocolate? by Cas Leser
- My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis
- Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis
- Night Flight by Michaela Morgan
- Mud City (by Deborah Ellis
- Paddington Here and Now by Michael Bond
- Shadow by Michael Morpurgo
- The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Travelling Tales: a collective creation by children living in refugee camps
- Under the skin by Catherine McPhail
- We All Sleep Under The Same Stars by Year Six children at Greenfield Primary School*
- When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
- Worry Angels by Sita Brahmachari, illustrated by Jane Ray *
Older/ more able readers
- A Country to Call Home edited by Lucy Popescu
- A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk by Jan Coates
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
- After Tomorrow by Gillian Cross
- A Strange Land by Alan Gibbons*
- Asylum by Rachel Anderson
- Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
- Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman
- Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman*
- Close to the Wind by Jon Walter
- Girl in Red by Gaye Hicyilmaz
- Girl Underground by Morris Gleitzman
- Girl with a White Dog by Anne Booth
- Here I Stand: Stories that speak for Freedom by Amnesty International
- Hidden by Miriam Halahmy
- Home is a Place Called Nowhere by Leon Rosselson
- I am David by Anne Holm*
- In the Sea there are Crocodiles by Fabio Ceda
- Island by David Almond
- Kiss the Dust by Elizabeth Laird
- Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley
- Looking at the Stars by Jo Cotterill
- Mahtab’s Story by Libby Gleeson
- Nine Lives& Come to Where I’m From by Zodwa Nyoni
- Now Is The Time For Running by Michael Williams
- Once by Morris Gleitzman
- Oranges in No Man’s Land by Elizabeth Laird
- Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian
- Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah
- Refugee Tales edited by David Herd and Anna Pincus*
- Refugee Tales 11 as told to Jackie Kay, Helen Macdonald, Neel Mukherjee, Kamila Shamsie and many more*
- Ruby Tanya by Robert Swindells
- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys*
- The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan
- The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon *
- The Dark Beneath by Alan Gibbons
- The Marsh Birds by Eva Sallis
- The Milk of Birds by Sylvia Whitman
- The Optician of Lampedusa by Emma Jane Kirby
- The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo*
- The Pomegranate Tree by Vanessa Altin*
- The Shadow Girls by Henning Mankell
- The Survival Game by Nicky Singer *
- The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen*
- Web of Lies by Beverley Naidoo
- Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird*
- Where I Belong by Gillian Cross
For further titles on this subject and reviews see:
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/search/?query=refugees
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/search/node/asylum%20seekers
http://www.letterpressproject.co.uk/inspiring-young-readers
http://www.letterpressproject.co.uk/inspiring-older-readers
Here's a pdf of this information: A_revised_selection_of_books_about_a.pdf