Monday, October 15, 2018

THE DAY WAR CAME by Nicola Davies / Book Review #TheDayWarCame


By: Nicola Davies
Illustrated by: Rebecca Cobb
Published by: Candlewick Press
Released on: September 4th, 2018
Ages: 6 & up 
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Rating: 5 Owlets
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review

A moving, poetic narrative and child-friendly illustrations follow the heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful journey of a little girl who is forced to become a refugee.

The day war came there were flowers on the windowsill and my father sang my baby brother back to sleep.

Imagine if, on an ordinary day, after a morning of studying tadpoles and drawing birds at school, war came to your town and turned it to rubble. Imagine if you lost everything and everyone, and you had to make a dangerous journey all alone. Imagine that there was no welcome at the end, and no room for you to even take a seat at school. And then a child, just like you, gave you something ordinary but so very, very precious. In lyrical, deeply affecting language, Nicola Davies's text combines with Rebecca Cobb's expressive illustrations to evoke the experience of a child who sees war take away all that she knows.



With it's beautiful, childlike illustrations, and it's powerful message written with children in mind, this book is a must read for all ages! Nicola Davies's story, combined with Rebecca Cobb's illustrations, tell the story of a young child who is forced to become a refugee. 

Written from the point of view of a young girl who goes about her day when suddenly war hits her town. Now everything this young girl loved, and enjoyed doing, is gone. Forced to flew, and look for a new home, this young girl's brave, and heartbreaking journey will invoke empathy and understanding from even this book's youngest readers. 

What this powerful story tells, and helps readers see, and understand on a child's level, is how war destroys and takes away all that people know. Like the young girl in this story, war makes refugees out of people who have had everything taken from them, including their homes, their families, their way of lives, and their sense of belonging. This book is a moving reminder that like this child, refugees, are individuals just like the rest of us, and have the same wants and needs we all have. 
I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~