ESCAPE: An Age-Old, HUMAN, Story

LANTANA, 2021

 Can you name twelve synonyms for, or words related to, ESCAPE? 

(Take a moment to try.)

 The authors of ESCAPE: One Day We Had To Run managed to do so, using those words to structure a dramatic nonfiction picture book on the topic. Ming & Wah wrote the text and Carmen Vela illustrated the dozen accounts of ESCAPE with a variety of colors and tones, with sweeping scenes and emotionally packed shadows and angles. 

The twelve words they used as a table of contents?

CLING...DART...DEFY...DISGUISE...FLEE...FLY...PEDAL...RAFT...SPRINT...

STOWAWAY...SWIM...TUNNEL

Each of these launches a double page spread devoted to a single escape account spanning three centuries. Refugee stories in Western culture alone are timeless, going back to Moses parting the sea and even back to Adam and Eve being ejected from the Garden. Escaping persecution, trauma, unlivable condition, war, and expulsion is a human conditions that has occurred as long as there have been humans. The authors share twelve dramatic, actual events that reveal a wide range of people, causes, times, and places. 

Each double spread treatment uses the featured word, followed by a line or two. That, and a page of explanatory narrative, sprawl across an illustration that exposes and expands the harrowing accounts described. The first example is 

CLING: Syria to Greece, 2015. 

                                DON'T LET GO. HOLD TIGHT. NEVER GIVE UP.

The last steps to safety for two girls traveling with family and more in an overloaded boat takes them from Turkey to Greece. To avoid swamping the boat, the girls CLING to the sides of the boat, propelling and guiding it to their destination despite extreme cold and being ignored by passing boats. I particularly appreciated how often the refugees were described in years following their escapes, revealing their successes and contributions the their receiving nations.

These 2015 escapes were current events and came back to me in reading them here, although other accounts were more distant memories or even unknown. For example, DISGUISE: Scotland to France, 1745, is the account of Bonnie Prince Charles who, having failed to secure the British crown, fled for his life to France. Yes, disguised as a hooded woman. The remainder of his life was spent in various disguises as he fled and hid throughout Europe. 

The illustrations capture the tone and settings of each true journey with minimal figures, perspectives, geographic elements, and varied tones and depths. Opening and ending spreads were particularly helpful. The book concludes with the brief text from the UNIVERSAL DECLARATiON OF HUMAN RIGHTS, Article 13 and 14. Freedom, emigration, and asylum in safe countries are broadly agreed upon rights of every human, and yet societies and power groups make such journeys futile, or tenuous at best. Immigration and asylum claims are treated as current or even recent problems when every one of us knows this is not true. 

This book helps to share the global and timeless experiences of such desperate escapes. The opening spread helps in that, offering a minimalist double spread global map. The expanse of water as our planet's dominant feature is evident, and map details are few, allowing readers to note the twelve migrations indicated across our shared geography. In addition, the suggestion of an eastern sun and western crescent moon emphasis the passing of time during these journeys, and a subtle suggestion of the northern and southern jet streams suggest the never-ending forces of tides and winds and weather. 

Overall, this collection of escape stories provides perspective on the truth about human escape and need for safe harbor. It will be invaluable in classrooms, homes, and libraries when shared with children, ranging from young to teen. It also offers adults a chance to step away from headlines and recognize the WHO and WHY of current refugees and of our own personal and social histories. After all, the PILGRIMS came as a persecuted group, seeking a new home.

It could happen to any of us again.

Advance Peek at ANTONIA: Thoughtprovoking Picture Book

 

MinEditions, 2021

In the midst of news about refugees, escapes, and heartache, I recently received a sample of a picturebook by Columbian author/illustrator, DIPACHO. ANTONIA: A Journey to a New Home will release on September 14 (2021) from MinEditionUS/Astra Publishing House. I try not to overdo being pushy in these posts, but this is an excellent example of how important every single aspect of cover designs can be.On first glance, it's easy to assume that ANTONIA is the lively, lighthearted dog. My assumption there was correct, but there is so much more to notice. 

First, Antonia is looking back, not ahead. Why is that? Is she escaping from someone? Leading the way? Playing with someone? And why is the subtitle "a" journey, not "her" journey? Any ideas?

As they say in the infomercials... wait, there's more! 

Any careful look at a well-designed book cover will include checking out the  back. Of course the text is intentionally helpful, hint-full. But before any words were added, you can compare the two halves of the story that meet a reader's eye before the first page is turned. The front is in bright and "happy" colors, familiar in the styles of the light-noted lively dog, its doggish smile, and a hedge that could be found in any neighborhood. In stark contrast are the color tones and visual suggestions on the back. Images are blurred and blue-er, from the ground up through the ominous sky. That horizontal herdgery is less vibrant, nearly suggesting fencing or barbed wire with a slight squint as you view. 

Any move has both good-and-bad aspects, as presented in books reviewed earlier this month, HERE, and in several other posts. This cover alone suggested to me that much higher stakes could be revealed once I cracked open the story. That's what the opening endpapers confirmed, as the dog is racing away from a lovely home with bags packed outside their door. Then, in several wordless pages that preceded the title page, the dog pauses, tongue lolling, at water's edge. He is soon joined by his young girl, arriving with a hug, followed by a boy with a duck on a leash.

Before the ongoing, eventful scenes unfold wordlessly, DIPACHO offers an introductory note to assure our understanding. He clarifies that many in his homeland, Columbia, are no longer safe in their longtime, lovely homes, but must escape to urban areas, at great risk and loss of their family heritage. Just as the back cover cautions, this introduction makes clear that "a journey" may be dangerous and difficult, and yet in the company of loved ones it is possible to find happiness and hope. 

I will not spoil the story by revealing what "difficulties" this migratory group will deal with, but I urge readers to keep your eyes peeled for the many little visual details that suggest answers to your questions. Who arrives? Who survives? What should be celebrated and what should be mourned? 

Sound like a lot? Well, current global events are "a lot", and without discussion and openness to questions from little ones whose big eyes and ears notice more than we realize, those can feel either unreal or overwhelming. Stories like this one, shared with trusted adults, can elevate empathy and expand understanding. 

While you're at it, give a look back at another kid-friendly but world-aware picture book, CROCODILE'S CROSSING: A Search For Home, reviewed HERE. 

I'm throwing in a bit of a Covid anchor here, too. The mandate against evictions in the USA is about to be lifted, and there will undoubtedly be countless families right around the corners from us who will be forced out of their "lovely homes" to seek "safe" shelter in unpredictable places and circumstances. This fall there will likely be exponentially more un-homed kids within our schools and among our acquaintances. Books like these can resonate with both those who suffer losses and those who can't imagine such losses. Please use books to open discussions that must be had in order to increase our capacity to empathize and actively help.

(Received from publisher without a promise of review.)