Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey (English and Arabic Edition)

The text is simple, and mostly what you would expect a refugee story to be. The art, however, will touch your soul. Through the medium of rocks, the reader feels the fear and despair, the relief, the joy, and the uncertainty. A great introduction to the refugee crisis for kids.

Large format picture book. A refugee family's journey from Syria is told in simple language in both English and Arabic. An amazing Syrian artist uses small rocks and pebbles to illustrate this entire story. Artists in war zones have limited options and paints are expensive. But rocks are everywhere.

The author came upon the art work of the Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr on the internet and, as a note at the end of the book explains, “saw the opportunity to both raise funds to help Syrian refugees and bring the work of Mr. Badr to a wider audience.”

Thus she created this story about a Syrian

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family that decides to leave their home “in search of a place to be free, to live and laugh, to love again. In search of a place where bombs did not fall, where people did not die on their way to market.”

They walked and walked, and “at last we came to our future.” This family was considered to be one of the lucky ones. They have “new memories, new hopes, new dreams. Not of war, but of peace.”

The story is told in both English and Arabic. At the end of the book, there is information on both the author and the illustrator, and a list of ideas for what people in North America can do to make a difference.

The book reports that Ali Badr lives in a relatively safe area by the seashore near the ancient port city of Ugarit. He spends much of time roaming the beach, gathering stones, and bringing them home to his rooftop studio. You can watch a video below showing how he constructs his images.

Evaluation: The text isn’t perhaps as compelling as it could be, but it is dwarfed in any event by the amazing artwork. Who would have imagined anyone could convey so much, including emotions, through stones?

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Large format picture book. A refugee family's journey from Syria is told in simple language in both English and Arabic. An amazing Syrian artist uses small rocks and pebbles to illustrate this entire story. Artists in war zones have limited options and paints are expensive. But rocks are everywhere.

This story of a family fleeing their war-torn home is illustrated with riveting pebble mosaics by Syrian artist, Nizar Ali Badr,. The story is simple, compelling with universal themes of family, home and welcoming the stranger. Written in English and Arabic. Suitable for preschool, K and younger

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elementary.

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A stunningly beautiful book illustrated completely with stones. The artwork is incredible and tells the story without words. I particularly like the Arabic writing which gave it another layer of art.
This book can be used with children when discussing refugees and war without making it frightful or

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horrific.

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Love the stone art in this book. It's a sad story, with a lovely introduction telling the story of how the book came to be.

The rock art is phenomenal, & the text is emotionally spot-on for the age group.