Use these books on modern immigration and the refugee experience books for kids to teach empathy and compassion. What are your favorite books on this topic that I’ve left out? Thanks for sharing!
This book list is part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day Classroom Kit on Empathy, covering modern immigration and the refugee experience. Get it free here.
Modern Immigration Books for Kids
Rostam’s Picture-Day Pusteen by Ryan Bani Tahmaseb, illustrated by Fateme Mokhles
Rostam dreads wearing a pusteen for picture day. He worries his new American friends will make fun of him, but the opposite happens. Everyone wants to try on his fluffy, beautiful vest that Iranian shepherds have worn traditionally. This picture book beautifully models how to honor and be proud of one’s ancestry. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien
Three children from Guatemala, Korea, and Somalia are starting over in America where they have to learn a new language and make new friends. They feel isolated, confused, and sad. Slowly, they make progress, and they find their place with the help of kind classmates. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Here I Am by
This wordless picture book tells a Korean American immigration story beginning with a plane ride to New York City. It’s not easy adjusting to a new city and a new language but slowly, the young boy adjusts. He’s brought with him a seed from his old country, and it helps him make a new friend … and a new happy life. [wordless picture book, ages 6 and up]
Light for All by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Raul Colon
This book imparts the message of the promise of the Statue of Liberty, our best look as Americans, but it also includes our failings as a country in accepting the gift of waves and waves of immigrants eager to come to our shores and become Americans. Engle’s lyrical text reminds us of the Statue of Liberty’s promise of the hope for a better life for everyone. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
One Green Apple by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted Lewin
A young Muslim girl joins her class on a field trip to an apple orchard. Because she doesn’t speak English, she feels isolated and unwelcome. When she chooses a green apple, a boy protests that it’s unripe. Her teacher intervenes and it’s added to the cider press. The resulting cider is delicious; an analogy for the beauty of diversity. By the end of the trip, the young girl makes a new friend and feels like she is starting to fit in. [picture book, ages 6-11]
My Name is Bilal by
Bilal and his sister Ayesha are born in America, and they have switched to a new school where there are not a lot of Muslim kids. Ayesha is bullied on her first day of school by two boys who make fun of her headscarf. Bilal is frozen, unable to come to his sister’s aid. His teacher is a family friend, and he gives Bilal a book about another Bilal who was born in the time of Prophet Muhammed. This Bilal was also tormented by bullies who tried to get him to denounce his god. This newfound knowledge gives Bilal the strength to stand up for his sister the next day when the bullies harass her at her locker. Bilal finds a way to connect with the bullies on the basketball court, and it’s there he also meets an older boy who’s also Muslim. Now Bilal can call them both to prayer, just like the Bilal of olden times. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
In Search of a Better Life Immigration Picture Books
Pancho Rabbit and Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale by Duncan Tonatiuh
This is the perfect picture book for young children to introduce the issue of undocumented immigrants and the perils that they face. Young Pancho wants to find his papa who is long overdue from traveling North in search of work. After packing his father’s favorite meal, he sets off and meets a coyote who offers to help for a fee. After the coyote consumes the food he’s brought for his papa, Pancho realizes that the coyote is still hungry and has to make an escape. There’s a happy ending with Pancho reuniting with his father. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Calling the Water Drum by LaTisha Redding, illustrated by Aaron Boyd
Henri and his parents leave Haiti on a rickety boat in search of a better life, but only he survives. Now, living with his uncle in New York, his bucket is the only reminder of them, and his drumming on the bucket, his only form of communication. With the help of a new friend, Henri speaks his first word. Kids might not realize how dangerous the journey to the United States might be for some immigrants, including children. This picture book promotes empathy for the immigrant experience. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Migrants by Issa Watanabe
personally found the story to be a little hard to follow. It’s a refugee story of animals leaving their forest for something better. There is a skull character that joins them at the beginning of the story which might represent death. Or is this just another refugee who is allowed to join the perilous journey? Still, this is the kind of book where everyone can “tell” their own story and that is the beauty of a wordless picture book. The gorgeous illustrations also give much food for thought and are a joy to examine closely.[wordless picture book, ages 5 and up]
Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush by Patrice Lawrence, illustrated by Camilla Sucre
This is Patrice’s grandmother’s story who immigrated to London from sunny Trinidad. Ava, her granddaughter, is trying to decide who to dress up as for her school performance. It needs to be someone that she admires. Granny and her truck are full of inspiration. Would Ava like to dress up as Winnifred Atwell, a famous singer; Mary Seacole, a nurse during the Crimean War; or Rosa Parks, a Civil Rights Movement leader? Nothing seems right. They explore Granny’s cardboard suitcase next, which is filled with objects that tell her story. Finally, Ava is inspired! She will dress up as Granny. A gentle reminder of the personal sacrifices and hardships that our loved ones faced when they immigrated to a new land in search of a better life. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Refugee Experience Picture Books
From the Tops of the Trees by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Rachel Wada
Kalia lives with her family in Thailand’s Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. Like many young Hmong children, she has not known life outside of camp. While her life includes play, it is also a difficult life where there is not enough food to eat. When Kalia wonders if the world is just one big refugee camp, her father takes her very seriously. To show her what is possible, he climbs a very tall tree with her clinging to his back to show her the view from the tops of the trees. The world is bigger than she could ever imagine and her father tells her that she will journey to places that he has never seen. This semi-autobiographical story shows how she has fulfilled her father’s wishes for her. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
Still Dreaming: Seguimoms Soñando by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Magdalena Mora
A young boy and his parents are forced to flee their home due to a dangerous political situation that threatens to break apart their family. They drive past empty houses; other families in the same situation have already left. At the Mexican border, they continue to dream and move forward but this is NOT crossing from Mexico to the United States. This is the story of the forced repatriation of Mexican Americans between 1930 and 1940 when more than 2 million people living in the United States were “repatriated” to Mexico. This persecution continues today. From 2009 to 2019, more than four million deportations have taken place including in my own community. [bilingual Spanish picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story by Thao Lam
Thao Lam’s grandparents left war-torn Vietnam in a fishing boat. Now, she retells their story using ants as the protagonists who are uprooted and land in a new country across the sea. Ants also figure into her mother’s true story of fleeing Vietnam. Lost in the deep grass, she followed a trail of ants by the light of the moon, ending up at the riverbank where the escape boat was located. As a child, her mother rescued ants from sugar water traps her parents set. Karma, kindness, and family legend figure into this refugee story. [wordless picture book, ages 6 and up]
The Journey by Francesca Sanna
Without being overly scary, this picture book shows a realistic version of the refugee experience. It starts with a war that takes the father. The mother and children decide to escape to another country that promises safety. They leave much behind in the cover of night, but they are denied by an enormous wall and border police. They run and hide in the darkness, and pay to have someone help them cross, but their journey is not over. There’s an ocean to cross, and still more borders to cross. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
The Day War Came by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb (in association with Help Refugees)
Imagine an ordinary school day when war comes into your life and you are forced to flee all by yourself. After a long journey, the child, a young girl, finds a town where war hasn’t touched, and a school that beckons her. Alas, she needs a chair to join the classroom so perhaps war had reached this place after all. But then something happens that drives war out of her heart. This is a powerful story using a chair as an allegory for what we can do to help refugees. Nicola Davies and Rebecca Cobb walk the line perfectly to deliver what war is like without being too scary. This story ends on a hopeful note. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Marwan’s Journey by Patricia de Arias, illustrated by Laura Borras
This is a powerful story of a young boy fleeing his country on foot across a desert in search of a home. He is with other refugees but there is no family to care for him, only his dead mother from his dreams. Despite all that he has been through, he remains optimistic about a new life with a garden full of flowers and promises. The beautiful watercolor illustrations perfectly balance his hardships with his hope. [Picture book, for ages 4 and up.]
The Unexpected Friend: A Rohingya Children’s Story by Raya Rahman, illustrated by Inshra Sakhawat Russell
Faisel lives in a refugee camp with his sisters and mother. He and his friend Rahim finds a bird with a broken wing. They leave to gather firewood for cooking and have Faisel’s sisters look after the bird. While on their wood-gathering mission, Faisel falls and hurts his arm. He looks after the bird and when it is healed, he makes the decision to let it go to reunite with its family. This book does a wonderful job of realistically depicting life for the Rohingya in a refugee camp, while imparting a positive message about kindness, generosity, and hope even during the most difficult of times. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
Where Will I Live? by Rosemary McCarney
Where do you go if your home is no longer safe? Because of war and conflict, families have to leave their homes and hope that somewhere, someone will welcome them to a new home. The photos of refugee families and children around the world make this a relatable picture book to help children understand the refugee experience. Despite these hardships, the photos also show children able to laugh, play, and make friends. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Roses in My Carpets by Rhukshana Khan, illustrated by Ronald Himler
For a young refugee living with loss and terror-filled memories, time is measured by the next bucket of water, the next portion of bread, and the next call to prayer. Here, where everything – walls, floor, courtyard – is mud, a boy’s heart can still long for freedom, independence, and safety. And here, where life is terribly fragile, the strength to endure grows out of need. But the strength to dream comes from within. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
The Little Tree by
Author Muon Van tells the story of her family’s exodus from Vietnam to escape the war in a parable about a tree sending her seed to a place that looked more promising than where she was. It’s a beautiful story of parental love strong enough to let the little seed go. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Where Wildflowers Grow by Hà Dinh, illustrated by Bao Luu
It’s moving day for young Hà and her family. After being uprooted from Vietnam, they are living in a refugee camp in the Philippines and now they are going to America. But Hà is happy in the refugee camp where she goes to school with her best friend, and picks wildflowers every day. Wildflowers can grow anywhere, a message that Hà takes to heart as she starts her new life in the United States. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo
Sami and his family leave behind all that they have when civil war breaks out in Syria, and they walk for days to reach a refugee camp. Sami is safe for now but can’t stop worrying about his pigeons. In this new place, birds find him: a canary, a rosefinch, and a pigeon. They bring him comfort and help him find joy again. When new kids come to the camp dazed and traumatized as he was, he is able to help. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
My Name is Sangoel by
Sangoel’s father died in the war in Sudan, and now he and his mother and sister are leaving the refugee camp to move to the United States. The wise man at camp tells Sangoel to be proud of his Dinka name, handed down to him by his father and grandfather.
Lonely and homesick in this new country, Sangoel feels that he has lost his name because no one says it correctly. After he joins a soccer team, he gets an idea of how to teach everyone his name. The importance of one’s name is not merely for his identity but represents all that he has left behind. This is a gentle story of the refugee experience. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Mali Under the Night Sky: A Lao Story of Home by Youme Landowne
This is the true story of Laotian American artist Malichansouk Kouanchao, whose family was forced by civil war to flee Laos when she was five. Mali lived an idyllic life in the country with her family until the war began. Forced to flee, Mali and her family are arrested for not having a home in this country. With her childhood memories to sustain her, Mali tells stories of home to her fellow refugees. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by
The Lost Boys of Sudan were usually the sole survivors of their families who were systematically killed village by village during the Sudan War. Those boys who were tending cattle survived, only to come back to find everything destroyed. This is the case of eight-year-old Garang who then embarks on a treacherous journey to safety first to Ethiopia, and then Kenya, joining up with other boys in the same situation. Their survival is a miracle and a testament to their courage and the power of the human spirit. [advanced picture book, ages 8 and up]
Escape: One Day We Had To Run by Ming and Wah, illustrated by Carmen Vela
Twelve refugee stories through twelve different means from all over the world are portrayed in this picture book that exemplifies bravery in the face of danger and the power of the human spirit. [picture book, ages 9 and up]
The Bicycle: How an Act of Kindness Changed a Young Refugee’s Life by Patricia McCormick and Mevan Babakar, illustrated by Yas Imamura
Review from A Kid’s Book A Day:
‘Mevan tells the story of her childhood, beginning with idyllic early years surrounded by family in Kurdistan. When the Iraqi government begins persecuting the Kurdish people, Mevan and her family are forced to flee, first to Turkey, then to Russia, and finally to the Netherlands. Mevan learns to make herself as invisible as she can.
In the Netherlands, she watches people outside her window riding bicycles, but she rarely leaves the apartment herself. It feels like no one sees her, but it turns out that Egbert, the building’s handyman, has noticed her, and one day he brings her a red bicycle. His gift makes Mevan feel “a hundred feet tall,” before long, she’s outside riding with the rest of her neighbors. An epilogue describes the miraculous reunion she had with Egbert as an adult, including a photo of the two of them, an author’s note describing her life as a refugee, how it has made her feel like an outsider, and the miraculous power of kindness.
This is a touching, bittersweet memoir emphasizing the power of one person’s kindness to make a difference. I like how the epilogue ends, describing the ripple effect of her story of finding Egbert: “In a world where many people are running from war, from hunger, from hatred, people everywhere, of every age, asked themselves: What’s one kind thing I can do?” [picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Refugee Experience Novels in Verse for Kids
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
In free verse poems, a ten-year-old girl, Hà, chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave war-torn Vietnam to resettle in Alabama. Her voice is not what you’d expect from a refugee in America. Instead of humble gratitude, she brings a feisty and honest perspective on her new experiences, including bullying and rejection from her new classmates. She’s a character that is hard to forget and easy to root for. [novel in verse, ages 9 and up]
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Amira is twelve when war breaks out in Southern Sudan, and her peaceful village is attacked. Her father is killed and now she, her mother, and sisters make the difficult journey to a refugee camp. Traumatized, Amira is unable to speak. At the camp, she is given a red pencil and pad of paper which helps her reclaim her voice and her creative spirit. [novel in verse, ages 9 and up]
Understanding Modern Immigration Middle Grade for Kids
The Un-Forgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Frank Cottrell Boyce is one of my favorite middle grade authors and this book does not disappoint. It’s a story of two Mongolian brothers, Chigis and Nergui, that drop into Julie’s 6th year class (it’s set in the UK). They walk into the classroom in big, furry coats and hats. Chigis is very protective of his younger brother and talks of the devil that is out to get him. Julie gets appointed as their “Good Guide,” a task she takes to heart. As she gets to know these mysterious brothers, she and her classmates, learn about Mongolia, Genghis Khan, and Polaroid photos that Chigis shows them. It turns out that the devil is indeed out to get Nergui and it’s up to Julie to get Chigis’ coat back to him. Use this book to talk about the plight of refugees and undocumented immigrants. Frank Cottrell Boyce’s Afterword gives more insight into the origins of this story. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
Yara’s Spring by Jamal Saeed and Sharon McKay
Review by Ms. Yingling Reads:
“McKay also wrote Thunder over Kandahar (2010) about life in Afghanistan, and it’s great to see her team up with an #ownvoices writer, Jamal Saeed, to write an excellent tale with gripping details about Syria. It’s so important that my students not only know the difficulties that people in war-torn countries face but that they also realize that many of these people have lives so similar to their own before they are thrown into confusion and devastation by war. The inclusion of Nana, who had previously lived through political difficulties in the early 1980s, was especially interesting, and Yara and Shireen’s friendship added another interesting layer. ” [young adult, ages 12 and up]
A Long Pitch Home by Natalie Dias Lorenzi
10-year-old Bilal and his mother and sister move to the United States, leaving their father behind in Pakistan. His father is caught in a web of political corruption, and Bilal finds a way to help him using his newfound baseball skills. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
American Immigration: Our History, Our Stories by Kathleen Krull
Review by Ms. Yingling Reads:
“Wow. If you need only ONE book that gives an overview of everything anyone might need to know about immigration, this would be the book…Not only does it cover the history of different peoples who immigrated to the US, but it also talks about indigenous peoples and how they were treated. An interesting and welcome twist for a book on immigration, to be sure. There is also some discussion about the fact that certain populations did not choose to come here, but were brought against their will, so they are not necessarily immigrants. Not only is the history of the various policies and treatment of immigrants mentioned, but there is a multitude of short biographies of immigrants who have made significant contributions to US society throughout its history.” [middle grade nonfiction, for ages 8 and up]
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p.s. Related posts:
10 True Kidlit Immigration Stories by Sandra Neil Wallace
FREE Classroom Empathy Kit: Immigration & Refugees
New MCBD Classroom Kit: Activists & Activism!
10 Middle Grade Books about Immigrant Families
Chapter Books to Support 4th Grade or 5th Grade Immigration Unit
Meet Asian Pacific American Hero Haing Ngor
Undocumented Immigrants in Children’s Literature
Immigrant Story: In The Year of the Boar
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Thanks for including some books I haven’t seen, or reviewed, yet!
My pleasure Patricia!
Thanks, Mia! There are several here that I haven’t yet read. I’ve been dying to read My Beautiful Birds for quite some time now. I need to put it in our library’s suggest a title program–so behind with requesting titles!!
Here I Am, The Journey, Inside Out & Back Again to be really powerful. I liked The Red Pencil too.
Thanks Maria,
Immigration and refugee experience are topics near and dear to my heart right now. Will be promoting them for classroom use in an effort to get kids thinking about empathy.
I am so glad more books are being written on this topic.
Hi MaryAnne,
Me too! Teaching kids empathy through these kinds of experiences is so needed right now.
Also check out Messages From Maryam, a book about Iraqi refugees.
Thanks for the great book recommendation Judy! Will try to find it!
This is another one of my favorite lists that you’ve put together. The Journey is one of my favorite books.
I need to add REFUGEE by Alan Gantz to this list!