by Kirsten Cappy & Yaya Gentille
illustrated by Rahana Dariah
Toddler Lolie loves to go, go, go. A-Bit-Older Lolie loves to hug the edges of the wheelbarrow as her papá pushes her around the village. But, one day, scary black clouds scratch the horizons and mamá announces, “We have to go!” And, so the wheelbarrow is filled and Lolie and her family join a line of people walking away from burning homes. There is a truck and a UNHCR refugee camp and, after many years, a flight and arrival in a new home, one full of so many new things to get used to: a yellow school bus and …SNOW, which descends just as the family’s new baby is expected! A car is not a truck and snow is not mud so how will they go, go, go?!
An extraordinary book for managing a story of escape from conflict which is also followed through with reliance, warmth and joy. Budding engineer Lolie’s fascination with wheels and movement propels the family’s journey forwards and two new additions to the family keep the narrative filled with hope. The dual language French/English text (shifting smartly to English/French with their arrival in N America), interspersed with Lingala words, honours the many multilingual families of Central Africa (this family are imagined here as coming from the DRC). The backnotes share a small glossary of Lingala/French words and a definition of 'Refugee' and the UNHCR. There is a QR-Code offering ‘educator and family engagement materials’ and, even better, a QR-Code which tells the story in 7 different languages (French, English, Lingala, Swahili, Portuguese, Kinyarwanda and Arabic), read by native speakers from the Great Lakes Region. An absolute triumph of a picture book.
‘This book acknowledges the uncertainty and trauma of fleeing a homeland without forcing vulnerable readers to explicitly relive those traumas through the text. It’s child-friendly and hopeful’ (Patrice, Letterbox Library reviewer).
‘Hits just the right balance of hope and realism’ (Fen, Letterbox Library Staff/Reviewer). Age 4-8, Paperback 31pp
Themes: Refugees and Migration