Friday, July 15, 2011

Four Feet, Two Sandals



Four Feet, Two Sandals
AnnotationTwo young Afghani girls living in a refugee camp in Pakistan share a precious pair of sandals brought by relief workers. 
 
Personal Thoughts: In a refugee camp in Pakistan, a young girl named Lina finds a single yellow sandal with a blue flower in the middle that fits her foot perfectly.  It came from the relief workers who gave out used clothing from a truck.  The matching yellow sandal was found by Feroza, another young girl who has recently come to the camp.  When Feroza offers the sandal to Lina, Lina devises a plan that each day they will switch off wearing the pair of yellow sandals with a blue flower.  Thus begins the friendship between the two refugee girls.
This is one of those heartwarming books that not only tells a touching story about friendship during hardships, but also opens western eyes to the plight of faraway peoples ravaged by war.  As an American, I have only heard about refugee camps in war-torn areas of Africa and the Middle East.  Williams & Mohammed’s text fills in the gaps of knowledge, showing me how families live in camps and how they take steps to leave them to go to safe countries.  Chayka’s illustrations are beautifully rendered with warm broad brush strokes and lots of yellows and browns that realistically captures the desert environment. 

This would be a great introduction to young people studying civics/ current events/ cultural studies.
***Curricular Connection - 9-12th grade Civics: current events, cultural studies

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