Jane Ray: the illustrator’s role


“I ran three workshop days at Kenilworth. The idea of birds as symbols of freedom is a recurring theme in my work and in our first session, having read my book Ahmed and the Feather Girl, the children created Wish Birds. They imagined what it might be like to have to leave their homeland, and then wrote hopes and wishes on the birds’ pleated paper wings.


As an illustrator I need to be able to show facial expressions to tell a story, and after reading The Unicorn Prince, we experimented with drawing expressions on blank faces.


We talked about how we interpret what people might be feeling through their expressions. The children also drew self-portraits and thought about how they communicate their own feelings.


Jane Ray was chosen as the artist to work with Kenilworth’s children. She has first-hand experience, because she runs a class at the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants, with author Sita Brahmachari. One of EmpathyLab’s aims is to help children recognise a wider range of emotions, in order to understand themselves and others better. Jane’s wonderful, expressive artwork is a powerful springboard, and many of her books have empathy at their heart.


Jane collaborated with Year 5, creating artwork that helped the children to empathise with the refugee experience. Time spent ‘Empathy BookSpotting’ inspired the class to focus on books with refugee and empathy themes, and they contributed books recommendations on luggage labels. These included Francesca Sanna’s The Journey; Kate Milner’s My Name is Not Refugee, Judith Kerr’s When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit, and Morris Gleitzman’s Boy Overboard.


The children worked with Jane to draw a variety of facial expressions, exploring how to ‘read’ feelings. The idea of flight, migration and freedom manifested itself in the form of ‘Wish Birds’, where the class wrote wishes for a child refugee arriving in the country. One response, “I wish everyone could be treated equally” shows the power of their understanding.


The third workshop took place at the Scouts Headquarters at Gilwell Park, Chingford. The class learnt about Scouts’ contribution on the Home Front during both World Wars and activity in Prisoner of War camps. Children explored objects which brought the learning to life. Inspired by these, the class created artworks, including letters thanking the Scouts, and comic strips from both the perspective of a Scout and a refugee.


Further workshops have created postcards to be sent to refugee transit camps in Greece and Sudan where Scouts are working, and an Empathy Tree which explores the empathetic vocabulary learnt by the children throughout the project. One session looked at campaigning and activism, which resulted in the class creating their own campaign placards in support of refugees. The children also wrote a letter to their MP, expressing their hopes for refugees arriving in the UK.


In our second workshop we explored symbolism, how simple images can represent something bigger and more emotional. For example, the bird representing freedom, and the tree representing growth and strength, with its buds and blossom, leaves and fruit representing new hope and development. The Empathy Tree is our response to these ideas, and was created by the whole class – a truly collaborative work!


In our final workshop together, everyone was given a postcard on which to paint a brightly coloured bird. On the back they wrote a hopeful and friendly message. These will be reproduced and posted to children who are currently living in refugee camps and temporary homes in other parts of the world – the children of Kenilworth Primary School holding out their hands to children of similar age whose lives have been torn apart by war and upheaval.


I have loved my time with Year 5. Through the art activities, working with the Scouts, the sharing of books, and the resulting discussion and thought, the children have developed a much deeper and more empathetic understanding of the refugee experience and our response to it”.


All the material was brought together in a moving exhibition at the Mill Green Museum.


Some EmpathyLab resources for schools and libraries


• Read For Empathy book collections, curated by an expert panel. 30 books for primary aged children, and 15 for secondary. You can download the linked Guides from www.empathylab.uk, and buy the collections at a 26% discount at www.peters.co.uk/empathy2019


• Toolkits for Empathy Day: there are three toolkits with creative ideas and resources. To find the one right for you, go to www.empathylab.uk


• Training: EmpathyLab now offers training. Enquiries to miranda@empathylab.uk


Miranda McKearney is a social justice entrepreneur who has spent 35 years turning kitchen table ideas into nationwide campaigns, culminating in founding The Reading Agency, a national charity, in 2002.


Books for Keeps No.235 March 2019 5


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