Literacy Matters Winter 2022

Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush’s Incredible Journey

colorful watercolor drawings and many close-up illustrations of characters’ facial expressions. One Green Apple offers ways to help students connect with others by demonstrating gestures, real-life experiences, and compassionate interactions with peers.

Kuntz, Doug & Shrodes, A. (2017). Crown Books for Young Readers.

The Girl in the Gold Dress. Paik, C. (2021). Imagilore Publishing. Illustrator: Jun Ling Park. ISBN 978-1-954109-10-0 This picture book shares how a Korean-American elementary student, a second-generation immigrant finds the courage to embrace her family’s Korean and immigration history by participating in a dance

Illustrator: Cornelison, Sue ISBN: 978-81524175502

The authors actively participated in this heart-warming, nonfiction story of compassion. Aid workers

and different media collaborated to reunite a cat that had gotten separated from its Iraqi family (a widowed mother with five children) during their refugee journey from Mosel, Iraq, to Greece in 2015. The bright-colored illustrations in this picture book portray the love between the cat and the family and the compassion involved in this rescue mission. It effectively introduces the sensitive topic of traumatizing refugee realities to young readers. Since many children have pets, the pet component of the story can help them develop compassion more easily for the hardship that refugees and immigrants encounter.

that requires her to wear ‘the gold dress.’ This dress represents the main character’s (Hannah’s) Korean name. In developing the courage to perform in this dress, Hannah learns to accept her Korean heritage and helps unravel a secret kept for decades. The acrylic canvas painting illustrations contribute to enwrapping the reader into aspects of Korean culture. Paik’s story illustrates that it may take immigrant families multiple generations to integrate and accept their ancestral and new cultures. It invites discussions about the values and traditions that families hold.

Literacy Matters Feature Article

Refugees and Migrants Robets, Ceri (2017). Barron’s. Illustrator: Kai Hanane. ISBN 978-1-4380-5020-1 This non-fiction picture book provides young readers with information about who refugees are, where they come from, the asylum-seeking process, and who supports these families. Like real informational books, it

The Most Beautiful Thing Yang, Kao Kalia (2020). Carolrhoda Books. Illustrator: Khoa Le. ISBN: 978-541-599376 Embedded in rich, colorful illustrations done by Vietnamese artist Khoa Le, the author draws from her own Hmong family’s refugee story that begins in the jungles of Laos and depicts the

has a glossary of terms, an index, and links to more information about immigrants and refugees or organizations that provide humanitarian aid to these groups of people. Illustrations are child appropriate, the language is easily comprehensible, and the writer directly addresses young readers. This background information on global migration can help students better understand what they see in current media reports. Educators can use this book to help immigrants and their peers connect on a compassionate and caring level. It invites fact-informed discussion on the topic and encourages students to be grateful and empathetic towards those who work hard to adjust to a new life and heal wounds of the past.

challenges of the early years of a poor immigrant family. It presents an emotionally moving intergenerational story of the power of love, which is much more important than outer beauty—straightened teeth, the daughter’s wish that the family cannot afford to fulfill. The book contains pronunciation support for some Hmong words used in the story, which helps raise students’ awareness of the importance of proper pronunciations of foreign names of people and places. This story allows for rich reflections on what is important in life, including the nourishing emotional support that money cannot provide.

One Green Apple Bunting, E. (2006). New York: Clarion Books. ISBN: 978-0618434770 In this fictional picture book, Farah, the main character, recently arrived from a country where women wear headscarves and speak a different language. Without knowing any English, she feels isolated and uncomfortable. The class takes a field

Watercress Wang, Andrea (2021). Neal Porter Books.

Illustrator: Jason Chin. ISBN: 978-0823446247

The Chinese art-inspired illustrations in this autobiographical picture book make the challenges of

a second-generation, Chinese-American child come to life. When the family stops during a car trip to pick watercress, the child is embarrassed and wants her family to do what Americans do: shop in grocery stores instead of choosing the watercress on the side of the road. This leads her mother to share her family’s life in China and helps the child appreciate the presence of fresh food and

trip to a farm, where she realizes that the sounds and animals in the new country remind her of home. As a newcomer, Farah starts to connect with her peers by watching her environment and hesitantly participating in making apple cider. This book gives realistic insights into newcomers’ feelings through the

| 28 | Literacy Matters | Volume 22 • Winter 2022

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS