{"id":1459,"date":"2021-06-06T15:24:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-06T05:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/?p=1459"},"modified":"2021-06-06T15:24:17","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T05:24:17","slug":"kate-gordon-amiras-magpie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/06\/06\/kate-gordon-amiras-magpie\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Gordon: Amira\u2019s Magpie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Illustrated by Krista Brennan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Published by Wombat Books, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can be lucky in life when wild creatures freely come to you. A butterfly might land on your shoulder and rest for just a moment, an echidna might shuffle and snuffle close to your feet looking for food, a rosella might come to the seed bowl you have on the balcony table and feed from it, knowing you are just there. And when we see these creatures up close, it\u2019s hard not to wonder what they are thinking as they go about their business, are we communicating, is there a connection, will they come back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this picture book, we meet Amira and she has a magpie that comes to her railing just outside the door, and she has a beautiful description for it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis eyes are black pearls. The white on his feathers makes her think, perhaps, he has daubed his wings with paint, to write messages in the sky, love letters to her, because she is his friend.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The illustrations are soft, mostly black and white and grey, and on one page we see the magpie\u2019s eye magnified, as if it is really seeing Amira and her dreams and hopes. Amira wants to imagine her beautiful magpie soaring through the skies and flying all the way to her home and her grandfather. Amira wants to imagine her grandfather recognising the magpie as a messenger from Amira herself, letting him know that she is okay, that she is growing, that she is thinking of him and can\u2019t wait to see him again one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for the moment, these are all dreams because it seems that Amira is far from her homeland and that her days are closed in by wire fences and dark shadows of detention. So for now, Amira\u2019s favourite colour will be blue, she will dream that her magpie is free and that it will fly back and forth between her homeland and here, singing a song of hope and freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This a wonderful story about hope when days are dark and the future is unclear, Amira, with her black and white cape and soft blue hijab, bravely faces her confinement by holding on to her dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can highly recommend this picture book for children 4-6 years and below are more suggestions for picture books which explore what it means to be a refugee, seek asylum, hope for a better future and hold on to your dreams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Red Tree by Shaun Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Wooden Camel
by Wanuri Kahiu
Illustrated by Manuela Adreani<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mia’s Story by Michael Foreman<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spirit of Hope by Bob Graham<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Garden of Hope
by Isabel Otter
Illustrated by Katie Rewse<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Happiness Box
by Mark Greenwood
Illustrated by Andrew McLean<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Greta Thunberg
by Isabel Sanchez Vegara Illustrated by Anke Weckmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Little Lion by Saroo Brierley Illustrated by Bruce Whatley<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Little Mole Finds Hope
by Glenys Nellist
Illustrated by Sally Garland<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lost and Found Cat
by Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes Illustrated by Sue Cornelison<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reach for the Stars by Serge Bloch<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Lion and the Bird
by Marianne Dubuc<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Peasant Prince by Li Cunxin Illustrated by Anne Spudvilas<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ziba Came on a Boat
by Liz Lofthouse
Illustrated by Robert Ingpen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Four Feet, Two Sandals
by Karen Lynn Williams
and Khadra Mohammed
Illustrated by Doug Chayka<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Refugees and Migrants
by Ceri Roberts
Illustrated by Hanane Kai<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My Name is not Refugee
by Kate Milner<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Day War Came
by Nicola Davies
Illustrated by Rebecca Cobb<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Running with the Horses
by Alison Lester<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Room on our Rock
by Kate and Jol Temple
Illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gleam and Glow by Eve Bunting Illustrated by Peter Sylvada<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Illustrated by Krista Brennan Published by Wombat Books, 2021 You can be lucky in life when wild creatures freely come to you. A butterfly might land on your shoulder and rest for just a moment, an echidna might shuffle and snuffle close to your feet looking for food, a rosella might come to the seed … Continue reading Kate Gordon: Amira\u2019s Magpie<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,10,56,46,45],"class_list":["post-1459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-birds","tag-family","tag-friendship","tag-immigration","tag-refugees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1482,"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions\/1482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypicturebooks.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}