LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
November 2024 Debut of the Month
Narrated by a young girl in gently rhyming and thoughtful text, she tells us that a refugee girl is coming to her home and is told that ‘she won’t understand ‘ when they try to speak to her. But our narrator is undeterred, despite being puzzled by her visitor’s sadness and unresponsiveness.
She comes up with an inspired idea to help them communicate. She draws pictures of her life and friends and when her visitor, Ana, starts to draw her life, Olive understands just why she is so sad.
This is a powerful tool for explaining to young children just what it would be like to be driven from home by ‘soldiers and missiles and tanks in a line’. Using colour very skilfully we see the gradual transformation that small acts of kindness and empathy can bring. The girls become friends, learning words from each other’s home language and Olive organises a video chat with Ana’s family, so she starts to feel better and her colours are restored.
We see the power of paying forward kindness too, because Ana is the first to welcome and greet a new boy at school who arrives as grey and sad as she had been. ‘So she knows what to do, how to help him feel safe’ Another subtle and affecting touch is Olive’s realisation of what the experience of sharing her home with Ana has brought to her. ‘She was just a stranger, and now she’s a friend. I’m thankful she’s here, for the joy that she brings me’ An absolute must for any empathy collections.
Joy Court
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About
Colours of Home Synopsis
Award-winning illustrator Miriam Latimer has written and illustrated her debut picture book as an author about the struggles of a refugee child settling into their new home, inspired by her experiences of supporting Syrian refugees and helping their transition into a new life.
This powerful, poetic story shows Ana and her family having left everything they know and love to escape the turmoil of war. Ana struggles to settle into her new home with Olive and her family, and Olive has some adjustment struggles of her own, but when the girls draw together, Olive realises what Ana has had to sacrifice for the simple right to be safe. Little by little, Olive’s kindness and love help bring colour back into Ana’s world.
Combining Miriam’s thought-provoking text with detailed and carefully planned illustrations which display visually how Ana adapts to her new life, Colours of Home is a perfect way to spark important conversations about migration, understanding and acceptance with even the youngest children.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781802586473 |
| Publication date: |
24th October 2024 |
| Author: |
Miriam Latimer |
| Illustrator: |
Miriam Latimer |
| Publisher: |
Graffeg Limited |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
36 pages |
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Author
About Miriam Latimer
Miriam Latimer is an award-winning illustrator, author and potter living on the North Devon coast with her husband and two sons. She studied Illustration at UWE in Bristol and has since illustrated over 25 books and worked with publishers including Hodder Children’s Books, Barefoot Books and Little Tiger Press. She has also worked with Bookstart, Devon Life and Saga Magazine, among others. Miriam creates bright, joyful, characterful, nature-inspired illustrations and previously won a Children’s Book Gold Award with the Association of Illustrators.
More About Miriam Latimer
