Refugee Asylum Seeker Book List

I really enjoyed this list of stories for children about refugees and asylum seekers from Book Trust.

It's the humanitarian issue of our time really and I think deserves it's own list that can continue to be expanded as I've done with Brona's War Book List. I've added a few already, and will add more over time -as I remember them, and new books as they come up. 

A Dangerous Crossing - Jane Mitchell
A Long Walk to Water - Linda Sue Park
Alpha: Abidjan to Gare du Nord - Barroux, Sarah Ardizzone (translator)

A Story Like The Wind - Gill Lewis, Jo Weaver (illustrator)
Azzi in Between - Sarah Garland

Boy Overboard - Morris Gleitzman

Girl Underground - Morris Gleitzman
Give Me Shelter - Tony Bradman (editor)

Home and Away - John Marsden, Matt Ottley (illustrator)
Hope in a Ballet Shoe - Michaela & Elaine De Prince

Illegal - Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin
In The Sea There are Crocodiles - Fabio Geda, Howard Curtis (translator)
Inside Out & Back Again - Thanhha Lai (see my review)
Jackdaw Summer - David Almond

My Name is Not Refugee - Kate Milner
My Two Blankets - Irena Kobald, Freya Blackwood (illustrator) (see my review)

Now is the Time for Running - Michael Williams

Oranges in No Man's Land - Elizabeth Laird

Refuge - Anne Booth, Sam Usher (illustrator)
Refuge - Jackie French
Refugee - Alan Gratz
Refugee Boy - Benjamin Zephaniah
Refugees - David Miller

Shadow - Michael Morpurgo
Soraya The Story Teller - Rosanne Hawke
Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey - Margaret Ruurs, Nizar Ali Badr (artist)
Suri's Wall - Lucy Estela, Matt Ottley (illustrator) 

The Arrival - Shaun Tan (see my review)
The Bone Sparrow - Zana Fraillon
The Island - Armin Greder
The Journey - Francesca Sanna
The Lines We Cross - Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Little Refugee - Anh Do, Suzanne Do, Bruce Whatley (illustrator) (see my review)
The Milk of Birds - Sylvia Whitman
The Other Side of Truth - Beverley Naidoo

The Red Pencil - Andrea Davis Pinkney
The Silence Seeker - Ben Morley, Carl Pearce (illustrator)
The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier
The Treasure Box - Margaret Wild, Freya Blackwood (illustrator) (see my review)

Welcome to Nowhere - Elizabeth Laird
When Michael Met Mina - Randa Abdel-Fattah

Ziba Came on a Boat - Liz Lofthouse, Robert Ingpen (illustrator)

Top 100 Books To Read Before Leaving Primary School

I'm very excited about this recent list from the UK, the results of a survey of teachers by TES magazine and the National Association for the Teaching of English.

It's a rather teacherly list. But these are great books that kids love and adults can appreciate. Note that some are equally placed, e.g. 12=. You've got to admire precision like that in list making.


1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (see my review)

2. Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian

3. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

4. Matilda - Roald Dahl

5. The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson

6. The Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis (well 2 1/2 of the 7, that's a decent crack)

7. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

8. We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen

9. Dogger - Shirley Hughes

10. Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

11. Sting of the Dump - Clive King

12= Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

12= The Iron Man - Ted Hughes

14. Flat Stanley - Jeff Brown

15. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

16. Funnybones - Allan and Janet Ahlberg

17= Owl Babies - Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson

17= The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien  (see my review)

19. Green Eggs and Ham - Dr Seuss

20. War Horse - Michael Morpuro (see my review)

21= Grimm's Fairy Tales - Brothers Grimm 

21= The Tiger Who Came to Tea - Judith Kerr

23. Peace at Last - Jill Murphy

24. Artemis Fowl series - Eoin Colfer (see my review)

25. Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy - Lynley Dodd

26. Not Now Bernard - David McKee

27.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

28. The Twits - Roald Dahl

29. I Am David - Ann Holm

30. The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes

31. The Paddington Series - Michael Bond (see my review)

32. Amazing Grace - Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch

33. Esio Trot - Roald Dahl

34. Five Children and It - E. Nesbit

35. Clockwork - Philip Pullman

36. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (see my review)

37. The Magic Far Away Tree - Enid Blyton

38. Farmer Duck - Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury

39. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (see my review)

40. The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier 

41. The Worst Witch Series - Jill Murphy

42. The Alfie and Annie Rose Series - Shirley Hughes

43. Shakespeare Stories - Leon Garfield

44. Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson

45. Six Dinner Sid - Inga Moore

46. Sad Book - Michael Rosen

47. The Borrowers - Mary Norton (see my review)

48= A Dark, Dark Tale - Ruth Brown

48= The Jolly Postman - Allan Ahlberg

50. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

51. Coraline - Neil Gaiman

52. Zoo - Anthony Browne

53. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

54. Voices in the Park - Anthony Browne

55. Cinderella - Charles Perrault, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti 

56. Pig Heart Boy - Malorie Blackman

57. The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

58. Cloud Busting - Malorie Blackman

59= Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson (see my review)

59= The Sheep-Pig - Dick King-Smith

61= Beegu - Alexis Deacon

61= The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (see my review)

63= Eragon - Christopher Paolini

63= The Mr Men and Little Miss Series - Roger Hargreaves

65= Gentle Giant - Michael Morpurgo

65= Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling

67 The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams

68. Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti (see my review)

69. Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff

70. Theseus and the Minotaur - David Orme and Wendy Body

71= The Just William Series - Richmal Crompton

71= On the Way Home - Jill Murphy

71= Pumpkin Soup - Helen Cooper

71= Street Child - Berlie Doherty

71= The Happy Prince and other stories - Oscar Wilde

76= Angelo - Quentin Blake

76= The Day the Crayons Quit - Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

76= The Snowman - Raymond Briggs

79. My Mum - Anthony Browne

80= The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

80= The Tunnel - Anthony Browne

82= Face - Benjamin Zephaniah

82= The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler - Gene Kemp

84. The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein

85= Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type - Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

85= The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

85= The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter

88= I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato - Lauren Child 

88= The Skullduggery Pleasant Series - Derek Landy

88= The Early Years at Malory Towers - Enid Blyton

88= Wolf Brother - Michelle Paver

92= Birds Beasts and Relatives - Gerard Durrell

92= The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner

94. The Mrs Pepperpot Series - Alf Proysen

95= The Asterix Series - Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

95= The Fib and Other Stories - George Layton

97. The Giant's Necklace - Michael Morpurgo

98. The Kipper Series - Mick Inkpen

99= The Milly-Molly-Mandy Series - Joyce Lankester Brisley

99= The Suitcase Kid - Jacqueline Wilson

52/100

Not a bad showing, although I've read the vast majority as an adult. Of course most of these titles weren't yet written when I finished primary school.

It's such an interesting list. No surprises in the top 10 for me- although I have a clear hole in my top 10 reading. As ever there are some expected books, some I've been meaning to read and some authors and books I've never heard of.

Not surprising that Roald Dahl is a major player, although I'd forgo Esio Trot and include my favourite Dahl -The BFG - instead, actually I'd put that number one I think, I like the movies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory more than the book! Shhhh. I was surprised that Jacqueline Wilson only just snuck in at the tail end. The Telegraph points out that David Walliams and J.K. Rowling failed to make the grade.

Nov 2016 53/100

June 2018 54/100

Bronasbooks's War Book List

The recent centenary of the start of World War One has been felt and remembered around the world. Reading the stories of war is a perfect way to remember the sacrifices made by those who fought and died. 

There have been many, many books written about war and wars for both children and adults. Recently my friend Brona at Bronasbooks suggested a great list of war books intended for children. I've slightly modified it here.

As always the books I've read are in red.

World War One

A Day To Remember - Jackie French and Mark Wilson (see my review)
A Rose For the ANZAC Boys - Jackie French
A Soldier, a Dog and a Boy - Libby Hathorn
ANZAC Biscuits - Phil Cummings & Owen Swan
And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Eric Bogle, Bruce Whatley (illustrator) (see my review)
Anzac Ted - Belinda Landsberry (see my review)
An ANZAC Tale - Ruth Starke & Mark Holfeld (see my review)
Biggles series - Captain WE Johns (see my review of The Camels are Coming)
Digger. The Dog Who Went to War - Mark Wilson (see my review)
Dont Forget Australia - Sally Murphy
Evan's Gallipoli - Kerry Greenwood
Fromelles - Carole Wilkinson
Gallipoli - Alan Tucker
In Flanders Field - Norman Jorgensen
Jack's Bugle - Krista Bell
Light Horse Boy - Dianne Wolfer

Light House Girl - Dianne Wolfer
Line of Fire - Barroux, Sarah Ardizzone (translator) (review coming soon)
Loyal Creatures - Morris Gleitzman (see my review)
Memorial - Gary Crew
My Father's War - Sophie Masson
My Mother's Eyes - Mark Wilson
One Minute's Silence - David Metzenthen & Michael Camilleri (see my review)
Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo (see my review)
Simpson and His Donkey - Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac
Soldier Boy The True Story of Jim Martin the Youngest ANZAC - Anthony Hill
Stay Where You Are and then Leave - John Boyne
Tank Boys - Stephen Dando-Collins
The Red Poppy - David Hill & Fifi Colston
The Beach They Called Gallipoli - Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
The Silver Donkey - Sonya Hartnett
War Games - James Riordan
War Horse - Michael Morpurgo (see my review)
When We Were Two - Robert Newton

World War Two

Angels of Kokoda - David Mulligan

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne 
Carrie's War - Nina Bawden (see my review)
Children of the King - Sonya Hartnett (see my review)

Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (see my review)

Forgotten Pearl - Belinda Murrell

Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian

Hero on a Bicycle - Shirley Hughes

Heroes of Tobruk - David Mulligan

Hitler's Daughter - Jackie French (see my review)

I Am David - Ann Holm

Kokoda - Alan Tucker

Once - Morris Gleitzman (review coming soon)
Then - Morris Gleitzman
Now - Morris Gleitzman
After - Morris Gleitzman
Soon - Morris Gleitzman
Maybe - Morris Gleitzman

Pennies for Hitler - Jackie French
Photographs in the Mud - Dianne Wolfer & Brian Harrison-Lever (see my review)
The Bombing of Darwin - Alan Tucker

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Boy at the Top of the Mountain - John Boyne
The Island on Bird Street - Uri Orlov (see my review)

The Silver Sword - Ian Serralier

The Wrong Boy - Suzy Zail

Other Wars

Amina - J L Powers

Caesar The War Dog - Stephen Dando-Collins

Emilio - Sophie Masson

Naveed - John Heffernan

Shahana - Roseanne Hawke

Vietnam Diary - Mark Wilson


Clearly war books is a vast topic, even those written for children. It is hard to keep up. This year the Children's Book Council of Australia published Mud and Blood and Tears. An Annotated List of Children's Books about War and Conflict. 

I expect that this list (which does not attempt to be exhaustive) will inevitably grow with time. Certainly there has been a flurry of books about WWI this year, and they will keep coming with the centenary of Anzac Day next year. I know that Jackie French and Bruce Whatley have a new book coming out in November- The Beach They Called Gallipoli. It's important that we remember their stories, and do not forget. 

War Horse

I enjoyed the opportunity to read War Horse recently. I knew that it was one of my 1001 books, and so I'd avoided the play (which was possibly dumb) and the movie, so that I could keep the experience of the story for my first reading of the book. I'm glad that I did, but I'll be keen to see the movie now, and hope to see the play sometime too. 

I think it was a stroke of genius from Michael Morpurgo to tell a war story from the first person narrative of a horse. Joey becomes a trojan horse of sorts (pun definitely intended). We see the misery of war for the English, the Germans and the occupied French through Joey's eyes. I now love this current cover even more- the reflection of the line of soldiers in Joey's eye.

War Horse has a strong beginning, with young Joey, a foal, "not yet six months old, a gangling, leggy colt who had never been further than a few feet from his mother" sold at auction to a mean, drunk farmer. Joey bonds with Albert, the farmer's son. We feel rather sorry for Albert and his early life- with his miserable unhappy father, drunk every week on market day. One day Joey is sold to the army and sent to fight in the muddy fields of western France.

Morpurgo doesn't spare his young readers from the awful truth of war.

The wounded were everywhere- on stretchers, on crutches, in open ambulances, and etched on every man was the look of wretched misery and pain. 

I had seen the same grey faces looking out from under their helmets somewhere before. All that was different were the uniforms - they were grey now with red piping, and the helmets were no longer round with a broad brim. 

And yet Morpurgo gives us some hope, with a meeting of opposing forces in the desolation of No Man's Land, and the toss of a coin. 

We have shown them haven't we? We have shown them that any problem can be solved between two people if only they can trust each other. That is all it needs, no?

I enjoyed War Horse, and was very moved by some sections, and cried at times (tricky on a plane), but it wasn't the kick in the guts experience that I got from reading Private Peaceful (see my review)- one of my first Morpurgo reads which is possibly going to live on as my favourite. Still it's an appropriate month to read War Horse with the 100th anniversary commemorations of the start of WW1 this month, we do still live in a world that needs us to remember their stories.

War Horse was something of a sleeper hit. Originally published back in 1982, it came to prominence in 2007 when the National Theatre in Britain staged War Horse as a play with groundbreaking life-size puppets that went on to become a worldwide hit and made the book famous. A Spielberg movie version doesn't hurt either.

Morris Gleitzman's moving Loyal Creatures (see my review) is an Australian response to War Horse.

244/1001

Joan of Arc

I really thought that I'd love this book. It should have been a no brainer for me. Michael Morpuro is fabulous, his Private Peaceful remains one of the most moving books that I've ever read. And I've been quite fascinated by Joan of Arc since 2011. Sadly though, it wasn't meant to be.

While I'm still fascinated by Joan's story I found this book hard going. Michael Morpurgo uses a story within a story technique to tell Joan's rather famous story. Sixteen year old modern girl Eloise Hardy grows up in Montpellier under the shadow of a portrait of Joan of Arc.

Eloise is quite fascinated with Joan, and after her family moves to Orleans she enters an essay competition to win the chance to be Joan for a day, leading a procession to mark the anniversary of the relief of Orleans on May 8. Which is ok, but then Joan's story is told with Joan being kept company by a white sparrow called Belami. For some reason this annoyed me from the get go, and my interest in the book never recovered.

Of course there are interesting facts along the way (and I do believe that this is rather a faithful retelling of Joan's life).

15th century France was quite different

Joan hates the Burgundians even more than the English who have occupied Northern France for many decades.

They're of our blood, they're French, and they ally themselves with the English, parcelling up the country, my country, as they see fit. English, Burgundians, they raid and rob wherever they want, and we have no power, nor any will, it seems, to stop them.

Joan jumped from the tower at Beaurevoir

Joan was betrayed by the very king that she spent her life fighting for, the king she saw crowned in Reims. 

King Charles himself, it seemed, the king she had restored to his throne, had personally ordered the bridge to be destroyed, and the attack on Paris to be halted. Behind her back he had come to terms again with the Burgundians and the English. Paris and the north of the country would be left to the Duke of Burgundy and the English, if he could keep all the conquests to the south. The king was going to disband his army, her army, leaving the English still in France. 

Throughout Joan refers to the English as Godoms, a term unfamiliar to me, and one that I've had no success Googling. There is no glossary, and it isn't in my Shorter Oxford Dictionary either. These English Godoms were to pay 10,000 pounds for Joan. 

After her trial, Joan was sentenced to death in the cemetery at Rouen, she then recanted her story about her voices, her apparitions. The next day she was to retract her recanting, and was of course burnt at the stake in the market place of Rouen.

There were no cheers now. Many cried openly at what they had just witnessed. 'We are lost,' said one of the English soldiers. 'We have just burnt a saint.'

Also published as Sparrow

Books on France, a great 2013 challenge from Emma at  Words and Peace

Dreaming of France, a great Monday meme
from Paulita at An Accidental Blog

Wombat Goes Walkabout

I've known about this book for a while, and been meaning to get around to reading it, have even borrowed it from the library before, but then returned it unread- which is a bit of a shame for a picture book.... Recently I was thinking about French Children's Literature Prizes and I discovered that Wombat Goes Walkabout was a prizewinner in France. And so I had to track it down again and read it.

I've been interested in Michael Morpurgo for quite some time. He's rather extraordinary. A prolific writer. He was the third Children's Laureate in the UK. He runs a charity called Farms for City Children.  He wrote what is possibly one of my favourite books ever, Private Peaceful. I have quite a number of his books sitting on the bookshelves waiting for me to glance their way.

Wombat Goes Walkabout is a simple tale, very much borne of the P.D Eastman Are You My Mother? vein. Wombat is good at digging and thinking, so he digs a big hole and goes down into it for a bit of a think. When he comes back up out of his hole he can't find his mother, so he goes in search of her. Naturally he bumps into lots of cute Australians- kookaburra, emu, possum. Christian Birmingham has done a lovely job creating an Australian feel from a palette of muted colours.

Emus always look comical

Wombat Goes Walkabout won the Prix Sorcieres in 1999. Which is pretty crazy when you think about it. Two Englishmen create a picture book about Australian wildlife, and it wins a prize in France. I'm a bit saddened that it took two Englishmen to write this book actually.

An Illustrated Year is hosted by An Abundance of Books.

Kensuke's Kingdom

November was a big Morpurgo month for me. I got to reread Private Peaceful (my favourite Morpurgo so far), and also read a new to me Morpurgo book Kensuke's Kingdom. The back cover proclaims it a modern day Robinson Crusoe, and that it is.

Young Michael is an average English working class soccer-mad lad at the end of the 20th century. He lives with his parents, and his dog Stella ( as in Artois- best name for a dog ever? S-t-e-l-l-a! I may well name my next girlie dog Stella). His parents are reeling after being laid off from their jobs at the local brick factory. Michael's father goes off and buys a boat without consulting the family and makes preparations to sail around the world. Normal laid off from work behaviour. Sure we all say we want to do it, but who actually does?

The book has a great first sentence
       "I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday."

We're instantly drawn in, wanting to know what happens. Given the whole Robinson Crusoe vibe it's no great surprise that Michael is soon washed overboard, and eventually finds his way to an island, an island where he isn't alone- he finds the reclusive Kensuke. An ageing Japanese man with limited English. The majority of the story is Michael and Kensuke's relationship on Kensuke's Kingdom.

One thing that annoyed me greatly about this book (and I realise that this is a ridiculously small point, but still, it annoyed me, and once a reader is annoyed by something like this, then your annoyance can only grow. And perhaps only an Australian could become annoyed by this?). On a map in the book Michael is washed overboard somewhere off the north-east corner of Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef. That's fine. My problem is that Kensuke's Kingdom is inhabited by orangutans and gibbons. Which is just impossible. Everyone knows orangutans only live on Borneo and Sumatra. Which is well and good. All he had to do was set the story up so that they travel up the north west coast of Australia and maybe he could find an orangutan studded island, and I wouldn't have been bovvered, but don't put him off the boat near Cairns.

One thing I loved, is that Kensuke spoke of honour, and acted based on honour. Which seems a quintessentially Japanese, and perhaps a forgotten virtue in the west. Kensuke does not want to take a particular course of action because it's "Not honourable thing to do." I think it's great to have a popular mainstream book raising honour as an issue for modern kids. It is a concept sorely lacking in our world.

Another thing that I loved was the cover art. I noticed the obvious Japanese design aesthetic, although unlike Mr Odle, I think that there is much more than a "very slight" resemblance to Hokusai’s eighteenth-century painting “The Great Wave off Kanagawa". I was just too lazy to check out the famous painting that it brought to mind. I think Michael Foreman is more than tipping his hat to Japanese traditional art iconography. 

I do wonder about the ongoing legacy of Robinson Crusoe. I'm not sure if I ever read a version of it as a child or not. I don't remember that I did. But somehow I know the basic elements of the story. I think most people would, wouldn't they? Robinson Crusoe is a castaway on an island, where he meets Man Friday. Robinson Crusoe is another fabulous book, that like Kensuke's Kingdom, I will read as part of my 1001 quest.

Private Peaceful

Michael Morpurgo is a somewhat prolific English writer of childrens books. He doesn't seem to be afraid of any topic, his breadth is vast, nor any age group, as he has written picture books, early readers, junior novels and everything all the way up to complex books for adolescents and adventurous adults. He discovered his talent and aptitude for storytelling during his years as a primary school teacher in Kent as a young man. He was instrumental in setting up the office of the Children's Laureate in Britain, and then became the third author to hold that office from 2003-2005.

 I haven't read more than a handful  of his books so far, and this is the one that has touched me most. It's astonishing. The title was inspired by a name on a gravestone in Ypres, Belgium, scene of an infamous battle in World War I. Private Peaceful is an account of a single night, Tommo our young narrator is preparing to stay awake all night. We're not sure what he's waiting for, but we know that he is waiting. We learn that he's alone, "the others have left", he doesn't want to sleep, he doesn't want to eat, he wants to remember. Chapters mark off the slow passage of time, as this seemingly endless night creeps forward towards dawn. Five past ten. Twenty to eleven. Nearly quarter past eleven.

The first section of each chapter, which may only be a paragraph or two tells us of this night. The rest of the chapter fills in the wonderful backstory of Tommo growing up with his brothers Charlie and Big Joe in rural England at the start of the twentieth century. Their father dies in a logging accident at the very start of the story. Tommo and his brothers are then either left essentially to their own devices, as their mother must go to work full time (and didn't children have a lot more freedom to roam and play back then?) until they come under the watchful and disapproving eye of Grandma Wolf. Big Joe is a simple, but happy lad, brain damaged after a bout of neonatal meningitis in the pre-antibiotic era, fond of singing Oranges and Lemons, and a lover of all creatures great and small. Charlie is the big older brother, who keeps an eye out for Tommo, and who eventually wins the girl that Tommo too loves.

Gradually the two story lines converge to bring us to that fateful night where Tommo is keeping watch. The last 20-30 pages or so is devastatingly sad. I read it with tears streaming down my face- and this was my second read of this book, I initially read it a few years ago. I loved it both times. Simply written. A great structure that naturally builds suspense and culminates in a powerful climax.

(Re)read as part of my 1001 quest