Common Sense Media Review
By Jan Carr
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Poignant but haunting story of child refugee offers hope.
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Why Age 6+?
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What's the Story?
In THE DAY WAR CAME, a girl and her classmates are enjoying their morning when war comes "like a spattering of hail, a voice of thunder," with "smoke and fire and noise." Her town's reduced to rubble, and "I can't say the words that tell you about the blackened hole that had been my home." Now all alone, she sets off with a stream of refugees on foot, on trucks, and "on a boat that leaked and almost sank." When she arrives at a refugee camp, she wanders into the neighboring town and spies a class of kids at school. The teacher turns her away, saying there's "no chair for you to sit on." But a boy in the class follows her back to camp, bringing a chair "so you can come to school ... My friends have brought theirs, too, so all the children can come to school." The refugee children walk back to school together, "on a road lined with chairs."
Is It Any Good?
This moving, haunting story of a young refugee draws its power from its simplicity, as the girl herself tells her own story, observing what's happening around her in ways kids can absorb. The Day War Came is frank and heartbreaking, but gentle. Author Nicola Davies makes clear this kid is like any other. As her day begins, "My mother made my breakfast, kissed my nose, and walked me to school," where she learned about volcanoes, sang a song about tadpoles, and drew a picture of a bird. Then, "war came," and her home and town are reduced to "rubble," and, though it's downplayed, she loses her family. "War took everyone. I was ragged, bloody, all alone." But when she peers in a school window near her refugee camp, she sees kids "learning all about volcanoes, and singing, and drawing birds." And a kindhearted act of welcome and inclusion from a boy in the class infuses the story with hope.
Rebecca Cobb's art is as affecting as the text. At the start, the girl is smiling, though ominous helicopters loom in the background. The scenes of war and refugee camp contrast starkly, gray and drained of color, and her journey includes images familiar from the news: people crammed into overcrowded trucks and boats. But when she wanders from the camp into the nearby town, we again see color -- bright window boxes and shops with produce -- as well as a foreshadowing glimpse of the boy who will help. This poignant and affecting book can open hearts and connect readers to a difficult subject.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the girl in The Day War Came. Before the war came, was her life at all like yours? How did you feel when she had to leave her home all alone? How did you feel when the boy at the end helped her?
Are there refugees or immigrants in your community? Who helps them adjust to their new lives and surroundings? Can you think of ways you might be able to help?
How do the pictures of the war and the refugee camp look different from the ones of the girl's home and the town? How does she feel in the dark pictures? In the brighter ones?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Rebecca Cobb
- Genre : Picture Book
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Candlewick Press
- Publication date : September 4, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 6 - 9
- Number of pages : 32
- Available on : Hardback
- Last updated : September 16, 2018
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