Books to help with conversations about War & Refugees
Ready to talk about some current events involving war and refugees? Check out this list for some of the best books to help open dialogue for you and your reader. The world can be tough, books can help.
Hard topics are hard for a reason. When words fail me in describing situations to kids in my care, I turn to books. I lean on books to start our conversations. We usually talk about what we see in the illustrations, the emotions present and get curious about what is happening. I also love to point out any helpers or hope, especially in bleak situations. After we read books, like the ones listed here, we leave them available to be shared again or bring up the topic at another time to see if there are any dwelling feelings. I know sharing topics like this can be scary, but if kids are already hearing about news or are aware something terrible is happening, not addressing it can be even more frightening for kids. Knowledge is power, and knowledge can be vital in helping. Sharing the basics of what needs to be known can help tame worries and answer questions kids may have about the issue. Reassurance of love, validating feelings, and just simple facts of what you know are powerful tools to use in combination with books when preparing to talk with kids about war and refugees. Finding a way to help through donation or some other means can help kids feel part of the solution, rather than a feeling of helplessness.
I am highlighting books in this post where the topic is war, so there is grief and suffering shown and typically some level of destruction. Please read through these books before sharing them with the kids in your care so you are aware of what to expect. It was challenging to organize this list, so I’m doing my best to share these from least graphic to most graphic, so you can better understand what to select for your reader. There is a mix of nonfictional and fictional picture books, with the bottom of the list featuring chapter books.
*I want to note that there are many reasons people can become refugees besides war/civil unrest. Almost all of the refugee books highlighted here are about people who became refugees due to violence.
Picture Books
The Suitcase
by Chris Naylor-Ballersteros
When a stranger comes carrying a large suitcase, the animals are curious and ask what is inside the suitcase. The stranger says there's a teacup and then describes that there's also a chair, table, and more inside. When the stranger lies down to sleep, the animals grow suspicious, claiming there's no way to fit all that inside a suitcase, and decide to break it open to check. They find a broken teacup and a photo highlighting all the stranger said was inside. While the stranger sleeps, he dreams about fleeing his home, and the animals feel bad about how they reacted. I love the ending where the animals make amends for breaking open the suitcase.
Lubna and Pebble
By Wendy Meddour, illustrated by Daniel Egneus
Lubna's best friend is a pebble she found on her travels and drew a smiley face on when they got to the tent city. Lubna can talk about her feelings and thoughts, even about the war with Pebble. When Amir arrives looking the same way Lubna felt when she first came, Lubna befriends him, and the two have fun playing together. When Lubna's daddy says they have a new home and will be leaving, there are many feelings. After talking with Pebble, Lubna realizes what she will do to help Amir when she goes. Very minimal talk around war, more of focusing on feelings and being in a new space. This one makes an excellent first book on war and refugees for younger kids.
The Map of Good Memories
By Fran Nuno, illustrated by Zuzanna Celej
Zoe has to flee and take refuge in another country because of war. Before she leaves with her family, she marks all the places that gave her happy memories on a map of her city. She thinks of each one in order and all the happy memories she had in that place. She relives firsts at her house, visiting her grandma's house, going to school, the ice cream parlor, the library, and many more places. She decides to connect all of her special happy memories places in the order she discovered them in her ten years there. I'm not going to spoil the ending here, but I thought it was beautiful.
Counting Kindness: Ten Ways to Welcome Refugee Children
By Hollis Kurman, illustrated by Barroux
This simple and beautiful book is about the courage of refugees and the kindness shown by others. Following a mom and three kids, this book shows their journey to flee their home, travel far away, and arrive in a new land. Some of the steps of kindness along their journey include two hands, four beds, six books, and more. I love that the illustrations and wording are short, concise, and not overly descriptive at the beginning of the book when depicting why the family needed to leave. This makes the topic more available for younger kids. I love the focus on acts of kindness and helping out those in need. The back of the book gives quick statistics on child refugees, places to find out more information, and leaves the reader with the question of what else can be done to help. An excellent read for starting up conversations with kids about refugees and brainstorming ways to help refugees out!
Wishes
By Muon Thi Van, illustrated by Victo Ngai
"If you had to leave everything behind and travel by boat across rocky waters to find safe harbor...What would you wish for?"
This powerful read is all about the wishes that tell of people needing to flee their homes searching for a better future. This is a sad and emotional read, but it's also full of hope and resilience. A child observes the quiet rush in preparing to leave behind a home with beloved grandparents and then is led on a journey across the land to a boat to travel to a new, safe land. Throughout the journey, there are wishes, wishes for a slower clock when saying final goodbyes, a wish for a bigger boat to hold more people fleeing, a wish for a stronger heart, and more. It is the last wish that really delivers an impact. Only 75 words, but with beautiful illustrations, this is a book that will touch your heart.
The Paper Boat
By Thao Lam
This semi-autobiographical wordless book highlights a family's escape from Vietnam to safety through wonderfully crafted collage graphics. A parallel story of ants journeying to a new home is happening, mirroring the fleeing family. Illustrations show hard and challenging times on the journey, but it's a tale of courage, resilience, and hope. A moving author's note is included about her experiences as a child fleeing from Vietnam with her family. I love the wordless format for this book for kids and caregivers to look at and talk through together.
The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq
By Jeanette Winter
For fourteen years, Alia Muhammad Baker was the librarian in Basra, Iraq, where her library was a gathering space filled with people who loved books. When war comes, Alia is worried that the thirty thousand books within it will be destroyed. Alia takes the safety of the books literally into her own hands. A true story showing how one person can make an amazing difference even in times of war. There are scene depictions of war in the city, but the story focuses on Alia and the books.
The Cat Man of Aleppo
By Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu
This true story, Caldecott Honor winner book, is one worth checking out. When war comes to Syria, many flee, but Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, an ambulance driver, stays to care for his neighbors who cannot leave the once beautiful city of Aleppo. He notices that it's not only people who need care; there are also many hungry, abandoned cats that are lonely and scared. Alaa decides to help them by buying food with the little money he has, but there are too many cats to care for on his own. He reaches out to the world for help, and the world responds warmly. Yes, there are scenes of a war-torn city and the sadness surrounding it, but most of the story focuses on Alaa helping and rescuing the cats and giving back to his city. Beautiful and touching leaves readers with the reminder that good people in the world are spreading kindness.
Tani’s New Home
By Tanitoluwa Adewumi, illustrated by Courtney Dawson
This true refugee story talks about what life was like and why it was necessary to flee their home, but it focuses on the hard work, determination, and kindness shown after the move. Tani remembers a happy and safe home filled with family in Nigeria, but when the Boko Haram terrorist group visits his Dad's print shop, they flee. Eventually, they end up in New York City and find a place to stay at a homeless shelter. They were grateful to have a safe place, but still, it was a hard move. When Tani learns about chess in class, a game he had tried unsuccessfully with his brother when they were hiding out, he gets excited to join. The only problem is the money to join; luckily, Coach Russ waved the fee. At chess, Tani learns that you have to work hard to be the best in chess. After many failures, then slowly more successes, eight-year-old Tani goes on to compete in the New York State Championship. I won't spoil the championship results or what happened following the championship, but if you're like me, you'll be moved to tears!
What is a Refugee?
By Elise Gravel
If you have a curious kid who asks all the questions, check out this informative and straightforward read for kids. What is a refugee? Why did they become refugees? Where do they go? What is it like being a refugee? These questions and more are asked in the pages of this book. The back of the book features direct quotes from refugee kids telling about themselves and also tells about some famous refugees.
The Last Garden
By Rachel Ip, illustrated by Anneli Bray
Zara's beautiful garden is a refuge from the war around her and a space she uses to help others. The day comes when the war worsens, and Zara needs to lock up her garden to flee. Will a day come when she can travel back, and if so, what has happened to her beloved garden? A moving story that highlights war and recovery and the hope nature can provide us.
The Day the War Came
By Nicola Davies, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb
This thought-provoking story is so moving. It starts with a girl experiencing a normal life with her family the day the war came. While at school, war comes and turns her town to rubble. War takes everything and everyone. Alone and torn up from destruction, she flees, going on a long journey. When she reaches a calm hut, she can feel the war still inside stuck in her body and the way people respond to her. Eventually, she finds a school and remembers back. When she asks to join the class, she is turned away because there are not enough chairs. Fortunately, another child steps in, bringing an extra chair for her to join at the end of the book. Heartbreaking and so moving, this powerful read can help with many discussions about war topics.
A Bowl Full of Peace: A True Story
by Caren Stelson, illustrations by Akira Kusaka
When Sachiko was six years old, she was playing about a half-mile from where the atomic bomb was detonated at Nagasaki. Sachiko's story tells of her family before and after the nuclear bomb detonated at Nagasaki during WWII, centering around her Grandmother's bowl, which amazingly stayed unharmed from the bomb. The back of the book features real pictures of Sachiko and Grandmother's bowl, an author's note, an illustrator's note, and more recommended children's books to explore further. The illustrations are well done; you can get a sense of the destruction and suffering without graphic detail. The text is just right for sharing with kids, explains some, but doesn't go super in-depth.
The Most Beautiful Village in the World
By Yutaka Kobayashi
This powerful read will leave you speechless. I recommend reading it with older kids, probably around fifth grade and up. Yamo loves his peaceful Afghan village of Paghman. The reader sees the scenic and lively town, highlighting family love, beautiful scenery, and an active town market. The book highlights this town and people interactions; then readers turn to the last page to see rubble and ruin, as the boy returns to his village to find it destroyed by war. This is the first of three books in the series, so readers can learn more about what happens to this village.
Simple sentences and dark greyscale illustrations make this book a deep read. It's a read to check out, look through, and be ready to share if your child is trying to process what exactly war is. This is a powerful read, and if you are looking for one about what war entails and what results from war, this will be one to check out. It is an intense read for me as an adult, so proceed with caution with this one.
This is My World
By Lonely Planet Kids
So this book isn't specifically about war or refugees, as it features kids from all over the world. However, some of the kids in this book are from war-torn regions. It shows readers real-life kids who are just like the kids reading in many ways. When looking at 84 different children living in more than 70 countries, you think about how different life must be for each. However, all the children in this book are depicted smiling with their families and showing interests they enjoy, and kids can relate even more to kids across the globe or maybe just a few states away. For each of the 84 kids depicted, the reader gets to see the child's name, age, country flag, a globe marking of where that child is from, and lots of photos showing the kid, their family, activities/foods they like, and the area they're from. Some of the kids answered the same question, my three words adjectives to describe themselves. Some fast fact boxes are scattered throughout the book to learn more about different areas. I love how it highlights similarities and differences between places and kids. A fantastic side note to mention here: Lonely Planet Kids decided to partner with War Child UK, an organization that helps support children who live in places torn apart by war. They help share the lives of some children who have grown up in these conflict areas. A portion of the money from the sales of this book goes to help support War Child UK.
When Stars Are Scattered
By Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Moving and powerful, this young adult graphic novel will leave you with many thoughts to reflect on. The story follows co-author Mohamed and his younger brother, Hassan, who is nonverbal and has seizures. They were born in Somalia and fled to a refugee camp in Kenya when they were little. This story tells of the hard life at the camp and the risks Omar took to get an education for a chance for a better future. Full of heartbreak, hope, and a bit of humor, this true story offers readers insight into day-to-day life in a refugee camp. The back of the book features more information about Omar and his family.
Other Words For Home
By Jasmine Warga
This Newbery Honor book is a free-verse fictional story about a family of Syrian refugees. Jude enjoys her time spent with family and friends in Syria, but when things start dangerous near home, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. Jude is distressed to leave her beloved older brother, father, and close friend behind and move so far away. Life in America is different than the American movies Jude watched and loved. Challenges of adjusting, the harshness of prejudices, and surprises await Jude in America as she slowly discovers more about herself. Relatable, heartbreaking, and hopeful, this book makes a wonderful read.
*As an affiliate for Amazon and other online retailers, I may get a small percentage of the purchase price. This does not change the price you pay and I appreciate it so much when you use my links. Thank you for your support!
