SuitabookLubna and Pebble
Wendy Meddour
- Reading
- Read together and pause at the illustrations, naming feelings without demanding personal comparisons. Afterwards, discuss empathy as listening to another person's experience and consider kindness that does not require giving away something precious.
- Themes
- Displacement and uncertainty: Lubna arrives with her father at a World of Tents after leaving an unsafe place; the setting is temporary and her earlier experiences are largely unspecified. The situation is presented through Lubna's feelings of confusion, loneliness and uncertainty rather than through detailed political explanation.
- Comfort, friendship and empathy: A pebble comforts Lubna; she then befriends Amir, a lonely boy, and considers whether to give him the object that helps her feel safe. The narrative treats attentive friendship and empathy as meaningful responses to loneliness, while acknowledging that generosity can involve genuine emotional difficulty.
- Emotional resilience: Lubna moves between fear, sadness, loneliness, comfort and moments of play with her father, Pebble and Amir while living in difficult circumstances. The book allows hardship and happiness to coexist, presenting imagination, relationships and hope as important parts of Lubna's experience.
- Worth knowing
- The refugee setting, temporary tents, loneliness, grief and separation may feel emotionally weighty. The story also includes comfort, play, friendship and hope rather than focusing only on hardship.