children that it is up to us to act against it. If you can act against it, you can make change – even if you are a child.”
She also talks about how her images add depth to the stories she (and others) tell, describing the process as being like the “author of the illustrations”. She says: “Children are clever – they don’t need me to translate the story into images, they can imagine it themselves. So illustrations should give another depth of the story, that’s why we are sometimes called the author of the illustrations. You bring your own personality, and you add something more to it.
Don’t move on
“Many parents say to me, that their children have stopped reading picture books and ‘moved on’ to chapter books, but I don’t think we should ever stop reading picture books. They have a new depth to the story, and that can be stimulating in different ways. When I do author visits and talks, we discuss the illustrations and I ask ‘why have I done this or that?’. There is one illustration in Tomorrow where I have drawn the dad to look like a building and when we talk about that, the children all have their own ideas and we have deeper conversation going on.”
Ramzee talks about leaving Somalia and Sonya Zhurenko, a 15-year-old who fled the war in Ukraine shares her experience. Each contributor is telling their own story, and while it might not always have been easy to do. Nadine says that it is important for children to have the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts. She says: “I’m really proud of it. We are five writers talking about our experience of leaving our countries and coming into the UK. The authenticity of the book is something that is very important – we are telling our stories, with our own voices.
Out this May, The Power of Welcome, is a graphic novel and this time she is not the illustrator. Instead, she is one of five contributors who are telling their own stories of refugee and migrant journeys. Ada Jusic illustrates the book, and also shares her own story of being a child refugee escaping war in Bosnia. Marie Bamyani tells her story about leaving Afghanistan, storyteller and cartoonist
“So many stories about refugees are written by non-refugees, non- Syrians, people who are not even remotely connected to the country. Children deserve better, they deserve authenticity and having a story that is a real experience.
“It was hard to write because I was talking about vulnerabilities in my life. It was hard to share my story, but I was really excited to have that coming out and to see how people react to it.” PEN&INC
l The Power of Welcome: Real-life Refugee and Migrant Journeys – a graphic novel, published by Scholastic is out now.
20 PEN&INC.
Spring-Summer 2023
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