Tag Archives: refugees

Teaching My Kindergarten Class about the Refugee Experience

In this guest post, Rona K. Wolfe, Junior Kindergarten Teacher at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School, explores methods of teaching her kindergarten students about the experiences of refugees around the world.

Rethinking

As a kindergarten teacher, I wanted to expose my students to global experiences. What does that look like in a class with our youngest students? After careful thought, I wanted the young children in my class at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School to learn about the difficulties and experiences of refugees living in our community.

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Book List: 10 Books About Flooding, Refugees, and Displacement

Within the past couple of weeks, people have watched as Harvey and Irma, both powerful hurricanes that caused extensive damage, swept through Texas, the Caribbean, and Florida. Hurricane Jose is now being watched closely. Last Friday, one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Mexico in a century caused hundreds of people to become displaced. More powerful natural disasters are likely to become the norm now, meaning that more people, both domestically and internationally, are likely to become displaced and unable to move back to their home. In this book list, we’ve rounded up 10 of our titles that are about different refugee experiences, whether they’ve been displaced by war, natural disasters, or the government. Continue reading

Interview: Author LaTisha Redding on Immigration, Grief, and the Healing Power of Art

In Calling the Water Drum, Henri and his parents leave their homeland, Haiti, after they receive an invitation from an uncle to come to New York City. As they attempt to flee Haiti in a boat, Henri loses his parents out at sea, and after his loss can only communicate with the outside world through playing his drum. In this interview, author LaTisha Redding discusses how she tackles heavy themes in children’s books and what inspired her to write Henri’s story.

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Celebrating 25 Books Over 25 Years: Brothers in Hope

Lee and Low 25th anniversaryLEE & LOW BOOKS celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and to recognize how far the company has come, we are featuring one title a week to see how it is being used across the country in classrooms and libraries today.

Today we are featuring one of our most poignant and moving titles: Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  This powerful story of young refugees fleeing war in Sudan was published in 2005 but remains extremely topical today, more than ten years later. Continue reading

Spotlight On: REFORMA’S Children in Crisis Project

From time to time here on the LEE & LOW blog we like to shine a spotlight on organizations, companies, or projects that move us. Today we’re featuring a special project close to our heart: the Children in Crisis Project from REFORMA, the National Association To Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos.

Preparing books for donation (image from REFORMA website)

Last year, over 70,000 unaccompanied children crossed the Southern border into the United States. This is a true humanitarian crisis, with many of these children ending up in detention centers, awaiting immigration processing or deportation. They have few or no personal belongings, don’t know English, and have been separated from their families with no sense of if or when they will be reunited. Continue reading