SuitabookMy Name is Not Refugee
Kate Milner
- Reading
- Read a few pages at a time and let the child study both words and illustrations. Use the book’s questions as invitations rather than tests, and allow a pause or change of subject if the journey feels close to home.
- Themes
- Leaving home and belonging: A child is told that he and his mother must leave home, travel and find a new home. The book presents this mainly as information or explanation.
- Care and reassurance: The mother prepares her son for what they will experience and tells him they will be all right while facing a challenge. The book presents this favourably.
- Words, pictures and perspective: The words reassure the boy, while the illustrations show more of the reality of leaving and travelling. The contrast encourages readers to interpret what may sit beneath spoken reassurance and to consider the child’s experience through both modes.
- Worth knowing
- Pay attention to the contrast between comforting explanations and images that show more of the journey’s reality. Farewells, leaving home, extended walking and difficult moments may merit a pause, particularly if displacement is personally relevant.