Tiny Owl ISBN 9781910328361 £12.99
This is a superb book with a very straightforward but profound message, which is ‘there is room in the world for everyone’. The text is simple with only about twenty words on each double page spread but those words give us a thought provoking message about the way we should be thinking about our world and the way we all share it. Given the issues that we are facing in the world, with waves of immigrants and refugees wanting to move elsewhere, it is a message that we would do well to take notice of.
The illustrations are a mix of naivety and sophistication, with stylised interpretations of people and creatures. The colour palette is quite dark and subdued but the use of lighter shades for background or for emphasis keeps it from feeling too depressing. The author/illustrator lives in Tehran and is well known internationally, although her work is less known in the UK; looking online, it would appear that only two other books by her are available in this country but I would like to see more in the future. It is a story that will lead to a huge amount of discussion in the classroom and links in to so many themes, but especially empathy, refugees, family and war.
Margaret Pemberton
