My Home Is in My Backpack

"We have left our house behind," Papa explains, "but our home is special: it is made from the people we love and the things we love doing." "Yes," says Mama. "We all carry our special homes with us -- in our backpacks and pockets, and in our hearts." Clara knew that one day her family would have to leave, just like her aunts and uncles and cousins and so many others. At dawn they join the caravan of people snaking over the hills. Every day they walk a long way. Sometimes they chat and joke, sometimes they hide and are silent. At night they make a village of tents and Clara visits her new friends to hear about their special homes, the things that light up the darkness for them: Juan's singing, Maria's stories, and Tomas's dominos. For Clara, home is drawing, Mama and Papa, her brother Pedro and Coco the dog. One night, Clara wishes on a shooting star. She wishes that their long journey will come to an end, and that someday soon she can put down her backpack and find a safe place for her special home to stay. This is a poignant but hopeful view of forced migration and displacement told through the eyes of a child. Inspired by real-life refugee stories from Venezuela, Eugenia Perrella's lyrical and affecting text and Angela Salerno's striking illustrations gently offer children a glimpse of this important and timely subject, encouraging empathy and understanding.