A cat called Waverley
By Debi Gliori (Author and Illustrator), Otter-Barry Books, 2021
This is a book about war from the perspective of the one who waits behind. A cat lives happily with Donald for years, but Donald is a soldier and goes to war. Over time the cat loses his friends, and his home is even knocked down. He ends up living in Waverley station. I found the book moving in that the cat waits for Donald for years, presumably not knowing if he will return. One day a man comes begging at the station. The cat recognises his voice and if you read the book, you will find out what happens!
The illustrations are a wonderful part of the book. When Waverley and Donald meet again, for example, only the autumn leaves and Waverley himself are in orange. The rest of the illustration is black and white. My perspective is that this adds beautifully to the impact. The author also wrote 'Night shift,' which is reviewed elsewhere on this website.
Saving the butterfly
By Helen Cooper and Illustrated by Gill Smith, Walker Books, 2022
This book is about trauma, escape and emerging into a new life. Two siblings are rescued from a shipwreck. The boy makes friends and plays. The sister, a little older, is too afraid to join him. Perhaps because she cannot let go, she remains indoors. Finally, her brother brings her a butterfly, and she takes a risk by stepping outside with it. She is beginning to move into her new life. The illustrations are a compelling part of the story. The tiny ship is shown on a vast black sea with no other colour in the illustration. After the rescue, the girl is looking out from a dark room. However, we see some colour is coming in, with a dandelion in a jar on the windowsill. Outside children, drawn in colour, are playing. At last, because of the butterfly, she goes out too.
The day war came
By Nicola Davies, Walker books 2018
I found this book strong and compelling. It is about how a child was at school having an ordinary day when war began. Her home becomes a blackened hole and she loses everything. In the end, after a long journey, she is in a refugee camp with a dirty blanket. She describes her situation in a manner that no-one could not feel. The idea is that war has followed her, it is in her body, dreams and heart. She realises that she has travelled so far to escape. However, not only is war inside her, but it is present too in the way people are cold and look the other way. She is turned away from a school because their are not enough chairs. However, a child brings a chair to the camp and other children do so for other refugee children. This is what she feels helps her recover from war.
At the end of the book, the author explains her inspiration. She heard a story about a refugee child who was not allowed to join a school because there wasn’t a chair for her.
