Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
My Beautiful Birds
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Pajama Press, 2017 ISBN: 978-1772780109
When their town is bombed and starts to burn, Sami and his family have no choice but to leave. War has destroyed their home and now they are refugees carrying all that they own on their backs and in their arms. Sami is brokenhearted not just because he has lost his home, but also because he has lost the pet pigeons he loved and cared for. Sami’s father reassures his son that the pigeons “escaped too.” His words gives Sami a little comfort.
Sami and his family members walk for several days until they finally come to a refugee camp. Here at last they will be safe. They are given a tent to live in, and it is not long before Father plants a garden, Mother starts cooking meals, and the camp’s children start attending a school that is set up for them. Just like before, the children sing songs, they do math, they play soccer, and they paint pictures, but Sami cannot enjoy doing any of these things. He is too broken-hearted about the loss of his home and his birds.
One day Sami is lying on the roof of a building looking up at the sky and daydreaming when four birds arrive. They are refugees in the desert, just like Sami.
When you live in a peaceful place where there is no war or conflict, it is hard to imagine what it is like to lose everything. It is hard to imagine what it is like to be a refugee. Unfortunately, today more people have been displaced by conflict and natural disasters than ever before.
One of the places where these displacements are taking place is Syria, a country that has been ripped apart by war. In this story we meet a Syrian child whose whole life is turned upside down when his hometown is destroyed. We watch as he struggles to adjust to his new existence in a refugee camp, and as he longs for what he used to have.
Beautifully written, and illustrated using polymer clay and acrylic, this picture book serves as a tribute to all those families who have had to venture out into the unknown when their homes have been taken from them.
