Children's fiction and picture books have a tremendous power to capture young readers' imaginations and to stir up their questions - just ask all parents, grandparents or anyone else who regularly reads to children! Some authors present their young readers with stories that are clearly bound up with human rights, even if couched in terms of kindness, respect and tolerance. At Amnesty we celebrate these masters of storytelling and support books that we believe engage young readers in a positive way.
Many of these books are endorsed by us as contributing to a basic understanding of human rights and the values that underpin them.
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'A little girl once asked me at a book talk at Cheltenham, (and kids tend to do this, ask questions that come winging in like a guided missile) 'Bob Graham,' she said, 'why do you read books?' It set me back a peg I can tell you, and sweat broke out on my palms. After some nervous shuffling and throat clearing I answered, 'to imagine for just a moment what it might be like to be someone else - to live somewhere else, or to look out of someone else's eyes, even a dog's, or a pig in a waistcoat, or a duck in a truck.' 'It seems to me that here at such an early age, in children's books, we should be celebrating differences as well as cosy home grown certainties. And through books, and through libraries, so vitally important, our children can grow and imagine what it might be like to be in someone else's shoes. This is surely where empathy starts. And with empathy and understanding comes tolerance, and who knows? Then they may have a world with some of the fear taken out of it.' Bob Graham, illustrator, on accepting the Kate Greenaway Award |
Suitable for ages 3+
Suitable for ages 10+
Suitable for ages 14+
A Child's Garden
Michael Foreman Master storyteller Michael Foreman creates a timely and moving story of a child creating a garden of hope in the midst of poverty and war.
How to Heal a Broken Wing
Bob Graham
When Will helps an
injured bird, he learns that a little kindness can go a long way. For
ages 3-9
Loveykins
Quentin BlakeThis picture book by former Children's Laureate Quentin Blake is a delight. One bright spring morning, after a night of gales in the great woods, Angela Bowling discovers a small helpless bird who has fallen from his nest. She scoops him up and bears him home to lavish care and attention upon the bemused bird. All is well, until one night when Loveykins discovers the joys of freedom.For ages 3-9
Dare to be Different
Various
This gorgeous book for children celebrates the diversity of life.
For ages 3-9
Voices of Silence
Bel
Mooney Voices of silence is the gripping and exciting story of a young girl's transforming world in the Romanian revolution. This 2007 re-edition of Bel Mooney's widely acclaimed book is a chance to discover anew her thought-provoking story of family, friendship, and the strength of a child's mind when everything falls apart. Ages 9+
Butterfly Heart
Paula Leydon
Set in Zambia the butterfly heart of Africa this novel gently introduces the concept of child marriage through its lyrical and very entertaining story. Suitable for ages 10+
Chalkline
The moving story of a Kashmiri boy soldier, from a prize-winning Irish author.
Revolution is not a dinner party
The powerful story of a Chinese girl who comes of age and fights to survive during her country's Cultural Revolution.
Dream Land
Safi and her Tatar family return to their Crimean homeland after being forcibly deported many years earlier. An evocative childs eye view of displacement and of trying to make home really home.
FREE?
To
commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, Walker Books and Amnesty International have joined together to
create a short-story collection for young adults, celebrating what it
means to be free.
For age 10+
Click
The
unison of 10 award-winning authors all writing stories in aid to
Amnesty International makes this book an unpredictable novel of
wonders, surprises, mysteries and human relations.
For age 10+
Riding Icarus
Lily Hyde
Suffering terrible hardship and separation from her mother, Masha's
world is a mix of horror and imaginary creations of hope. Icarus, the
disused trolleybus she lives in, takes her on a thrilling adventure
through an enchanted world. This captivating modern fairytale is the
first novel of the British freelance writer and journalist, Lily Hyde.
Ages 10+
One son is
enough
Peggy
Woodford
An adventure story of twin
brothers struggling to reunite against the background of child slavery
in 19th century Turkey. For ages 10+
Under the same stars
Suzanne
Fisher Staples
A moving tale of a young
Pakistani woman and her dilemma between family duties and dangerous
love. This book is a breath-taking journey in a world of strict
tradition, where remarkable people have to make difficult decisions.
From the author of Daughter of
the Wind and Under The Persimmon Tree. For ages 12+
Before we say Goodbye
Gabriella Ambrosio
Before
We Say Goodbye tells the story of a Jerusalem suicide bombing from the
perspective of two teenage girls: one is the bomber, the other her
victim.
For ages 14+
Under the Persimmon Tree
Suzanne Fisher
Staples An outstanding novel exploring the relationship between a young American woman and an Afghani girl in a refugee camp in Pakistan. For ages 14+
Secrets in the Fire
Henning Mankell A moving and beautifully-told story, based on the true story of a young girl caught up in a landmine disaster in Mozambique. Sofia faces her future with heart-warming courage. Winner 2004: International Reading Association's Notable Books for Global Society award. Selected 2004: for the New York Public Library's Teen Age list. For ages 12+
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND WALKER BOOKS |