Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey by Margaret Ruurs

Bibliography

Ruurs, M., & Badr, N. A. (2016). Stepping stones: a refugee family's journey. Orca. 

Plot Summary

A young Syrian girl is forced to escape her homeland after a bombing near her home. 

Critical Analysis

This lovely and moving picture book starts by describing a typical morning for Rama, a young Syrian. She wakes up to the sound of a rooster to a breakfast of “bread, yogurt, juicy red tomatoes”. The book speaks of children playing, Papas telling stories, and drinking tea with neighbors. Everything is spoken about in the past tense, which lets the readers know that something has happened that this is no longer her life, “But that was then. And This is now.” The book then follows Rama and her family taking a journey to find “a place to be free, to live and laugh, to love again. In search of a place where bombs did not fall, where people did not die on their way to the market” after bombs fall close to their home.  

This book is written in both English and Arabic and features illustrations made of rocks. The rocks are all different shades of brown, tan, and gray. They show movement and emotion even though there are no faces. Particularly striking are the illustrations of the refugees walking carrying all their life’s belongings as they make their way out of Syria and of the family on boats with those who have fallen out and drowned below.  

This story is a beautiful and compelling telling of the refugee experience, and should not be missed. 

Review Excerpts and Awards

From Kirkus Reviews: “Ruurs writes purely and warmly, with the text set in both English and Raheem’s Arabic translation on each page, of a family who become refugees. She deftly conveys the happiness of peaceful childhood, then the confusion and the fears born of war and migration, and the relief and curiosity of arriving at a new home—and the uncertainty whether it will be forever. Artist Badr still lives in his birthplace of Latakia, Syria. Lacking resources, he began using the stones he collects from the sea to depict stories of his compatriots with love and compassion. Each illustration is masterful, with Badr's placement of stones as careful as brush strokes, creating figures positioned to tell the whole story without the benefit of facial expressions: dancing, cradling, working; burdened, in danger, at peace. A foreword describes how the book came to be. An astonishing book that allows the humanity of refugees to speak louder than politics and introduces readers to one of Syria's incredible artists.”

Connections

See this useful resource on teaching about refugees from The UN Refugee Agency https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/teaching-about-refugees.html