THREAD BY THREAD: An unforgettable Journey

 Here's a picture book that enchants on its surface and aches at its core. How to write about refugees for very young audiences and still resonate with heart and hope? Try this one. Then, perhaps donate to a school or refugee center or family, or talk it up with someone you know who might not seem welcoming to the need for acceptance of desperate humans. I know, these are mice, but the story is universal!

Eerdman Books for Young Readers, 2023

THREAD BY THREAD is written by Alice Briere-Haquet and illustrated by Michela Eccli, with translation by Sarah Ardizzone. The cover image allows for some effective predicting. This seems like a delightful and charming story, a clever presentation of the warmth of family and home using mixed media and delicate but appealing line art in color. If that was your guess, you'd be right, on the first spread. 

But the title page features one unraveled strand of yarn, suggesting that the peace and contentment are short-lived. Endpapers, too, show that curly, unfurled yarn from the faoundaitonof the family's home along with some other yarns in different colors and conditions. 

The  minimal text is as pure as the knit one/purl one process that once constructed the security of their lives. The race to escape is inevitable, show on mostly white pages with literal and symbolic images shown in scenes combining color pencil art and yarn. Tension rises as the dangers increase, the pace intensifies, and the stakes rise. With nearly nothing to cling to, the escape across waves includes loss, and arrival reveals an armored encounter. What happens next is where the heart and hope enter the design. This community effort not only helps produce a new roof over their heads, but builds a social network and surprises that suggest not only safety but joy. 

This irresistible little picture book contains a global story, told through the universally identifable characters of mice. By no means does it replace picture books that reveal more details and specifics of individual and varied refugees and their cultures. For some examples that I've reviewed in the past, check HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and CROCODILE CROSSSING. 

And if that knit-bit caught your attention, check out Mac Barnett and jon Klassen's EXTRA YARN.

Side note: I read this and loved it when it first released a few years ago. The warm response (in the midst of ice and ICE) of the Minneapolis community brought it back to mind. If you know of little ones who are wondering about the things they see in news and media, remind them that the horror and chaos are nominally caused by concern about refugees and immigrants. The en-armored characters on the arrival shores could be discussed as having potential for acceptance or rejection... or worse. The choice they make (those with power and authority) leads to this happy and satisfying ending. The other titles linked can help do the same. Don't miss out on using such a tender and fun picture ebook with young audiences. 

Side-side note: This book works especially well as a LAP book (even if that just means Looking At Particulars). This is a delightful example of ways that illustration details, even the smallest, hold full stories within them and enhance the encompassing story with richness and depth.