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What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring
Akin Duzakin, Matt Ottley, and Alfonso Ruano

h1 November 11th, 2016 by jules


“I dream / I am with my mom /
I dream I am with my dad. …”
— From Jorge Argueta’s Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds,
illustrated by Alfonso Ruano
(Click to enlarge)


 


“What if I were in a place that no one knew about? …”
— From Constance Ørbeck-Nilssen’s Why Am I Here?, illustrated by Akin Duzakin
(Click to enlarge spread and see text)


 


“… he continued his search for a speck on the horizon.”
— From Rebecca Young’s Teacup, illustrated by Matt Ottley
(Click to enlarge)


 

This week’s Kirkus column is what happens when you have a deadline on the very day when you’re slumped over your keyboard in despair over a decision your country has made. That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about some brand-new picture books about refugees — Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds (Groundwood, October 2016), written by Jorge Argueta and illustrated by Alfonso Ruano; Rebecca Young’s Teacup (Dial, October 2016), illustrated by Matt Ottley; Constance Ørbeck-Nilssen’s Why Am I Here?, illustrated by Akin Duzakin (Eerdmans, October 2016); and Margriet Ruurs’ Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey, illustrated by Nizar Ali Badr (Orca, October 2016).

I’ve got some art from each book below. I regret that I have none to share from Ruurs’ book, but I encourage you to go read here or here about Nizar Ali Badr’s work.



 

From Somos como las nubes /
We Are Like the Clouds:


 


“Elephants, horses, cows, pigs, / flowers, / whales, / parakeets. /
We are like the clouds. …”
(Click to enlarge spread and see text)


 


“Since we left home / we haven’t stopped singing. …”
(Click to enlarge)


 



 

From Why Am I Here?:


 


“What if I lived where there was only desert? …”
(Click to enlarge spread and see text)


 


“Because this is where I should be.
Isn’t that just the way it is? …”
(Click to enlarge spread and see text)


 



 

From Teacup:


 


“Once there was a boy who had to leave his home …”
(Click to enlarge)


 


“The boy awoke to something new …”
(Click to enlarge)


 



 

* * * * * * *

SOMOS COMO LAS NUBES / WE ARE LIKE THE CLOUDS. Text copyright © 2016 by Jorge Argueta. Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Alfonso Ruano. Published by Groundwood Books, Toronto. Illustrations used by their permission.

TEACUP. Originally published in Australia in 2015. Text copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Young. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Matt Ottley. Illustrations used by permission of the U.S. publisher, Dial Books, New York.

WHY AM I HERE? Originally published in Norway in 2014 under the title Hvorfor er jeg her? Copyright © 2014 by Magikon forlag. First published in the United States 2016 by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Michigan. Illustrations used by their permission.





One comment to “What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring
Akin Duzakin, Matt Ottley, and Alfonso Ruano”

  1. Thank you, Jules, for your Kirkus column and this art.

         by Dow Phumiruk November 11th, 2016 at 1:46 pm

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