Critical Conversations: Using Picture Books to Welcome Refugees into Our Classrooms

Abstract

Approximately 11 million children have recently
been forced to leave their homes and lives behind
due to war, natural disasters and other
types of trauma. Reading picture books about
refugees in classroom communities that include
refugee children may help these children to feel
recognized and to realize they are not alone in
their situations. All children should see themselves
reflected in the literature (Hope, 2008),
and children who have arrived suddenly after
escaping some sort of tragedy are no different.
Using selected children’s picture books depicting
refugee children not only provides opportunities
for teaching critical literacy, but also incorporates
global perspectives, as well as perspectives
of justice and injustice in the classroom.
The multidimensional representations of
refugees in picture books also enables teachers
to promote critical conversations in the classroom.