Making It Home: Real-Life Stories from Children Forced to Flee

by Beverley Naidoo

Book Overview

Here in this remarkable book real kids from all over the world tell: how it happened to them, what their life is like now, and what they hope and plan for as they grow up. Beyond the headlines and TV... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142404551
• ISBN13: 9780142404553
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book Providing An Overview of Refugee Experiences in An Age-Appropiate Manner

This is an excellent book for children. Like the other reviewer, I am an adult interested in refugees, the situations that lead to people becoming refugees, and how refugees adjust to their new locations. This book does a good job of describing the refugee experiences of children from many different places. It provides a great balance of information. The situations are presented, but in a way, that will not be too scary for the target audience (of children). The book does discuss direct hardship, such as kids explaining that their uncle died in a bombing, discussion of landmines, or a child explaining that most of her family was killed & there are current threats that other family would be killed if they return, but it presents it without gruesome details. This is an excellent book for opening up discussions with kids, so that you can determine if you wish to provide further information about conflicts and other issues around the world. I like that the book provides some data and discusses the history/politics involved to show the bigger picture, but these are provided as an overview rather than bogging the book with too many details which might not keep a younger child's attention. Each chapter begins with a brief (2-3 pages) description of the issues within the particular region or country, such as Bosnia, and then follows with the children's stories of leaving that area, where they live now, their feelings about having to leave, etc. All of the stories are presented where the refugee kids are asked about their dreams for the future, for their cultures or themselves, such as the desire to someday be able to return to their native land. In this sense, the book remains generally quite positive, showing the resiliency of these children. Areas covered: Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Liberia, Sudan, and Burundi. The children's stories are generally about 1 full page to 4 pages with older kids obviously sharing more. The book also includes a centerfold with 8 pages of colored photos of the kids. Maps are also included for the areas, and at least some if not all of the regions of focus include stories from more than one child. Could also be an excellent book to supplement other discussions, such as classroom readings involving people from those countries, culture, or people overcoming diversity while retaining some hope for the future.