SuitabookThe Day War Came
Nicola Davies
- Reading
- Preview that the book includes war, a destroyed home, separation, perilous travel and an implied death. Read slowly, name feelings without demanding a response, and return to the ending’s invitation to discuss welcome.
- Themes
- War and displacement: A girl’s ordinary morning is interrupted by war; she loses her home and family, then travels alone through multiple forms of transport towards a refugee camp. War is portrayed through devastation, fear and profound loss, while the child’s perspective makes displacement personal rather than abstract.
- Belonging and welcome: After being refused a place at school, the girl is approached by a boy whose classmates provide chairs so refugee children can join the school. The book clearly affirms practical welcome and shared responsibility, presenting children as capable of making inclusion visible and concrete.
- Illustrated emotional perspective: Poetic first-person lines and muted, expressionistic illustrations follow the girl’s confusion, abandonment and isolation before the hopeful conclusion. The spare language and visual contrasts invite readers to interpret emotional experience rather than receive a detailed account of the conflict.
- Worth knowing
- Consider reading alongside the illustrations: muted, smoky and isolated scenes convey confusion and abandonment, while the concluding images introduce hope. Pause if the implied losses feel overwhelming rather than assuming the hopeful ending resolves them.