Seeking refuge in the world of literature – Book list

The definition of refuge is ‘the state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger or difficulty’.  Books are of course one way of seeking refuge; we escape from the real world by throwing ourselves into a literary one, enveloping ourselves in the safety of suspended reality and imaginary worlds.  But what about seeking refuge in the more literal sense?   
 
The current war in Ukraine has brought the plight of many families seeking refuge and safety to the forefront of our thoughts in recent months, and this has certainly been the case in many of our schools.  Across the UK, schools have been welcoming new Ukrainian pupils to their classes with open arms.  Teachers are desperately trying to navigate the complex territory of many of these children speaking little to no English and balancing this need with the obvious emotional turmoil and upheaval they have faced and the importance of supporting them through this.  We want our new pupils to feel safe, happy and welcomed, and in order to do this we need to ensure that other children in the school have an understanding of the challenges they are facing.  We need to equip all our children with the tools they need to be empathetic and understanding peers as well as supporting the pupils who have faced these challenges themselves, and we all know the importance of literature in this respect.
 
A number of books in our curriculum maps deal with similar themes.  Indeed, the first suggested theme on our Year 6 curriculum map is that of ‘Migration and Movement’, including the stunning text ‘The Arrival’ (a firm favourite amongst many of our schools).  Similarly, our Year 7 transition unit on Survival and Migration uses a beautiful collection of texts, combining work on Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah, Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin and A Different Boy by Paul Jennings.  In response to so many of our schools talking with us about new pupils arriving in recent months, we have put together a more detailed collection of books that deal with the concept of migration and seeking refuge, and what it means to leave your home and start a new life somewhere, away from everything you know and love.  The books in this collection spread across wide timespans in terms of historical context and approach the theme of refuge from a number of angles.  Some of the references to the plight of refugees and migrants are more distinct and explicit, whilst others approach it in a more abstract manner.  We hope that this collection will support you in ensuring new arrivals feel welcome, understood and appreciated in your schools.  

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