Spanish / Spain
Migrantes
(Migrants)
Watanabe, Issa
(illus.)
Barcelona [et al.]: Libros del Zorro Rojo, 2019. – [36] p.
ISBN 978-84-949901-5-1
Refugee | Migration | Death | Wordless book | Picture book
Reading age: 6+
White Ravens issue: 2020
A caravan of highly diverse animals, loaded down with bundles, suitcases and cookware, traverses a dark forest. Almost shyly, Death joins the train and is a constant companion from then on. The animals eventually cross a deep, blue-black sea and not all of them reach the other side. Those who make it continue their journey, until they unexpectedly hit upon a wonderful pomegranate tree. A deep and heavy silence lingers over the pages of this wordless book. The contrast between the bright colours of the refugee train and the gloom of the world that surrounds it produces a simultaneously captivating and painful intensity. Issa Watanabe captures the full range of the characters’ emotions in her detailed pictures with soft, flowing strokes: fear and hope, pain and grief, despair and solicitude. There are currently many children’s books that focus on displaced people and migration; its simplicity, intensity and touching beauty makes “Migrantes” a stand out. [JW]