HealthyBooks will continue to be online and available to users, although not updated. Read more…
Who Are Refugees and Migrants? What Makes People Leave Their Homes? And Other Big Questions ISBN: 9780750299862
Rosen, Michael and Young, Annemarie
Published by Wayland, 2019
In very well written prose, this information book about refugees and migrants, how they differ, and why we need to understand their reasons and problems is a model of its kind. Many different people explain their backgrounds, their reasons for becoming either refugees or migrants and their treatment when arriving in a new country. Both Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young talk about their family backgrounds and the complications of having ancestors from several countries, and the point is beautifully made throughout the book that there have always been both refugees and migrants in history – World Wars, famine, the slave trade, and transportation among others. There is a good explanation of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is explicit and definite about the rights of all people everywhere, and all the way through we are asked to ‘think about’ our own attitudes to those we come in contact with. There is also information about individual countries that are not always welcoming to those seeking refuge. The sharing of different cultures and the richness this brings to all our lives is also emphasised, and towards the end we are given an excellent exercise for use particularly in schools, where we are asked to imagine ourselves into a situation that means an immediate decision as to whether to flee or stay – ‘What would you do?’ There are a number of good pictures, but the emphasis is on words, words that are simple to understand and yet carry the full meaning of this international disaster we face. It’s good to see a children’s information book that relies mostly on the written word. Children really don’t need to have bite-sized bits of information given to them, even though they have become used to such. It’s time we treated them like the interested human beings they are.
Age: 10+