Search Results for: migration

Maybe

Oct19
Maybe

Maybe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe

Morris Gleitzman

Viking, 2017

192pp., pbk., RRP $A19.99

9780670079377

Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad…

Then I had a plan for me and Zelda…

After the Nazis took my parents I was scared…

Soon I hoped the Nazis would be defeated and they were…

Now Zelda learns her grandfather’s story…

Maybe there will peace and happiness for Felix at last…

Felix, Gabriek and Anya, who is now seven months pregnant, are once again on the run trying to get back to Gabriek’s farm and hide from Zliv, the murderous brother of Gogol the Polish patriot who vowed  ‘Poland has been crawling with vermin for centuries. Germans, Austrians, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians.  Now we’re cleaning them up.” and killed by Felix.

But there is a very rude and dangerous homecoming and once again they have to flee – this time on a treacherous journey that lands Felix in Australia. Maybe this will be the land of opportunity for a young boy who only wants to attend university to become a doctor. But…

The sixth in this family of books that tells the remarkable story of Felix in a way that it has to have a considerable element of truth, shows that when the guns fall silent the war is not necessarily over and sanctuary is elusive not guaranteed, Yet throughout both this book and the series, Felix maintains his humanity and resourcefulness and in cases, his child’s logic provides a touch of humour to lighten the dark which Gleitzman does not shy away from. He believes our children need to know about this history which is so recent if could be that of their grandparents’ and refuses to patronise them by glossing over the not-so-nice. 

Much has been written about the Holocaust that is inaccessible to our upper primary students because it is so factual and so foreign they can’t comprehend it – in this series written through the eyes of a child it becomes clearer and starts to develop a belief that this must never happen again, whether it be against a religion, a race, a gender or any other reason that people can be marginalised.  Sadly, now termed “ethnic cleansing” it does continue but no longer does the world turn such blind, uncaring eyes.  

For those who are venturing into the investigation of how Australian has developed in post-war times particularly with the immigration of so many from Europe, this series is essential reading to understand why people couldn’t just “return home”; why there were no homes to go to and why somewhere as faraway and foreign as Australia held such appeal.  For it is the Felixes of this world who established not only the town I live in but this multicultural, tolerant nation that we and those who follow must work hard to maintain. 

And now we await Always, the conclusion to an enriching and engrossing saga.

Somewhere Else

May3
Somewhere Else

Somewhere Else

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere Else

Gus Gordon

Viking, 2016

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780670078851

Some birds fly north; some birds fly south; some birds take the bus… but George Laurent doesn’t go anywhere.  It seems he is too busy baking his scrumptious pastries to be able to explore the world.  Even when his world-travelling customers try to tempt him with descriptions of a sunrise over the Andes, or Paris by night, even the Alaskan tundra in autumn, George always has an excuse – even the ironing is more important!!

But come the bleak, cold days when all his feathered friends have disappeared to warmer parts and George is left alone, his only remaining friend Pascal Lombard drops in looking for somewhere warm for winter.  He is puzzled that George has not gone with the others, and slowly he manages to eke out the truth – George Laurent, baker extraordinaire, does not know how to fly.  When it was flying lesson day all those years ago he had been doing something else and since then he had just made excuses not to – even though he really would have liked to have been able to go somewhere else.

Pascal, who believes he has a knack for solving tricky problems, is determined to teach George how to fly but it is not until they see a picture in a newspaper…

This is an engaging tale which will resonate with many children – having a zillion reasons for not doing something you can’t but are expected to be able to do.  As a teacher I was a master at detecting avoidance behaviour because I lived it at home with my son, so as soon as I started reading I knew there was an underlying issue.  But astute readers may well pick it up in the clues in the amazing illustrations which use a variety of media, particularly collage.  From the carefully selected advertisements of old styles of luggage on the endpapers, Gus Gordon has skilfully used pieces of print from all sorts of sources to add depth, mystery and humour to the exquisite illustrations. Every time you read it there is more to peruse and ponder.

Time to get out the atlas and discover the places that George’s friends went and maybe even investigate the concept of animal (and human) migration.  Why are they always on the move? We can tell the seasons where I live by the variety of birdlife that is present so perhaps it’s time to do an inventory of the local birdlife over time – perfect real-life context for data collection and interpretation. Or perhaps a physiological investigation into how most birds fly but some can’t and how this has been translated into human flight. Then there is the philosophical question about “no place like home” as George and Pascal discover something familiar is missing from their travels. Some children might even learn from George and seek help to find pathways around their own difficulties.

I love picture books that seem to be written for one age group but with some consideration can transcend all ages, offering the prefect reason to return to them again and again apart from just being an absorbing story.  A CBCA Notable for 2017, I was surprised this did not make the shortlist.

 

Teacup

Jul14
Teacup

Teacup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacup

Rebecca Young

Matt Ottley

Scholastic Press, 2015

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781743623848

“Once there was a boy who had to leave home…and find another.” As he climbs into an open rowboat, armed with just a book, a bottle and a blanket in his backpack he clutches a teacup filled with the earth from where he used to play.  As he sails over the seas, sometimes rough and wild, sometimes smooth and calm, through light and dark days constantly watching for a speck that would grow into a new land he is reminded of what he has left and understands how things can change with a whisper.  But throughout his seemingly endless journey he protects his teacup of soil and watches a miracle begin. 

Born from the story of her family’s own journey, Rebecca Young has created a most delicate and sensitive narrative that encapsulates the experience of leaving the familiar for the new, whether literal or metaphorical.  We don’t know learn why the boy has left home – that is up to the reader to speculate based on individual experience – but for anyone who has had to take that first step on an unfamiliar path, the shades of dark and light, the feeling of forward and backward, the heights of the ups and the depths of the downs will be familiar. But at no stage does the reader lose a feeling that there will be a positive ending.  Hope shines through both the words and the pictures and the final double spread captures the innate optimism of life.

Matt Ottley’s illustrations are exquisite. Using a carefully chosen palette and a remarkable vision, they echo the sparse text interpreting the mood and the theme. As well as the physical threat and comfort of the sea, they also symbolise the threats and comforts of life itself and the individual’s need and ability to navigate them. Ottley says, “…it was the most beautiful picture book I’d ever read. It is such a huge story about the human spirit, about loss and grief, love and joy, about beauty and also high adventure.” He describes being able to interpret the words as “an artist’s dream”.

This is a story that is rich in opportunities to accompany an inquiry unit about immigration and emigration as well as for older students to think about the journeys they are about to embark on as they become more independent and adventurous.  There are very useful teachers’ notes available that will enable this to be an enriching and enlightening read for those in Year 5+