A Country to Call Home - An anthology on the subject of refugees, asylum seekers and migration focusing on the experiences of children and young people

[rosie17]

This is an urgent request for Mumsnetters - Please support this children's book about other children's experiences.

Building on the success of A Country of Refuge Lucy Popescu is publishing an anthology on the same subject - refugees, asylum seekers and migration - but focusing on the experiences of children and young people, aimed at child and adult readers alike. She hopes the book will be read widely in schools, perhaps even on the national curriculum, in the hope that the next generation will have a kinder response to refugees and asylum seekers and better understand some of the reasons people are forced to flee their native countries.

A Country to Call Home will include newly commissioned stories, flash fiction, poetry and original artwork and feature some of our finest children’s writers including David Almond, Tony Bradman, Sita Brahmachari, Eoin Colfer, Brian Conaghan, Kit De Waal, Fiona Dunbar, Peter Kalu, Judith Kerr, Patrice Lawrence, Anna Perera, Bali Rai, S.F. Said, Jon Walter, and Michael Morpurgo with original illustrations by Chris Riddell.

Lucy has to crowdfund to make it happen and is currently at 90 % but there are only a few days left to reach target. Supporters are effectively buying the book in advance, get a limited first edition and their name in the back. There are various pledging levels. You can include your children’s names in the back, or buy copies for their school/s.

The book will be published by the pioneering Unbound Books and distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House.

More info and pledging levels here: unbound.com/books/a-country-to-call-home/

There are tales of home, and missing it; poems about the dangerous journeys undertaken and life in the refugee camps; stories about prejudice, but also stories of children’s fortitude, their dreams and aspirations.

The fate and vulnerability of refugee children and young adults continue to be vital issues and the book is intended as a positive reminder of our shared humanity.

Please pledge for A Country to Call Home to show your support for young refugees and asylum seekers the world over: unbound.com/books/a-country-to-call-home/