Greek / Cyprus
Ē barka pu den buliaze
(The boat that never sank)
Christophoru, Christophoros
(Christophorou, Christophoros)
(text)
Stamatiadē, Ntaniela
(Stamatiadi, Daniela)
(illus.)
Leukōsia (Nicosia): Parga, 2017. – [22] p.
ISBN 978-9963-714-66-7
Sea | Escape | Migration | Picture book
Reading age: 5+
White Ravens issue: 2018
A line of people, including a little girl with her family, moves quietly and secretively through the night to find the sea. Her mother says that the boat they are boarding for their escape is magical and hence will never sink. This gives the girl confidence and forms her only anchor on the grim, days-long journey. Even in the most violent storm, she finds courage and the power to stand by her siblings. The red boat doesn’t sink. Now it sits on a beach and is a peaceful place for the girl, and the children of her new home to play together. Told from the child’s perspective, Christophoros Christophorou employs simple yet animated sentences to gently convey readers along on a moving story of escape. Daniela Stamatiadi’s expressive pictures cast light on the protagonists’ emotional states. Tense plot moments are revealed through contrasts of colour and light. The book received an honourable mention for the Greek graphic and illustration award ΕΒΓΕ (EVGE).