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2018 Nominee

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey

Written by Margriet Ruurs.
Published in 2016 by Orca Book Publishers.

This unique picture book was inspired by the stone artwork of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, discovered by chance by Canadian children’s writer Margriet Ruurs. The author was immediately impressed by the strong narrative quality of Mr. Badr’s work, and, using many of Mr. Badr’s already-created pieces, she set out to create a story about the Syrian refugee crisis. Stepping Stones tells the story of Rama and her family, who are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the ravages of the civil war raging ever closer to their home. With only what they can carry on their backs, Rama and her mother, father, grandfather and brother, Sami, set out to walk to freedom in Europe. Nizar Ali Badr’s stunning stone images illustrate the story.

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13 thoughts on “Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey

  1. Hillhurst School

    RMBA task 4 Patrick Book Review
    Stepping Stones

    I think Stepping Stones has achieved it’s purpose. I feel like the purpose was to tell the story of a Syrian family in the time of the Syrian war and I believe this story was told well. Stepping Stones raises a bunch of discussion questions not only on the information, but the art on each page. For example, why did the artist decide to use stones to make art? And much more.
    This book is superior to other books on this topic because it wxplains the situation and the story clearer than the other books.
    I rate this 10/10 because of the reasons avoided. I would highly recommend this to any child who wants to learn about what’s happening in the world.

  2. Hillhurst School

    Stepping Stones book review by Veer Randhawa.

    Stepping Stones is a great non-fiction book, for anybody for any age. It tells you about a story of a young Syrian refugee and how her family immigrated away from Syria to somewhere else for safety. It starts off with how a little girl named Rama wakes and playing outside and then introduces the war in Syria which forces Rama and her family to go away. They are forced to leave by going on a boat to another country. This book is bringing awareness to the Syrian war, which is a very significant event.

    I think all GATE ⅘ student should read this book because it is exciting and very factual. It is also based off a true story. You learn about the Syrian war that is going on and how so many innocent people had to lose their homes because of this one event. This book is very profound and detailed; it makes you want to be in the place of every single Syrian refugee. The author wrote the book and expressed it very well which made me very intrigued. I liked the pictures in the book because it gave and made a detailed image in your head. The purpose of the book was achieved because it was about Syrian refugees immigrating and that is what happened. This book is helping us understand what is happening in Syria and why we should help stop it. Stepping Stones is raising topics that we should know and discuss together to help make a difference. No facts or evidence are left out in this book because it states everything about the war and what is happening.

    I enjoyed reading this book because although it had an unhappy ending, it was a real story, and I love books that are based off real stories. The writing style was effective and efficient; it forced, and made you feel like a Syrian refugee. It empowered the feeling. The theme is either immigration or war because that is what came up in the book and those are evident. This book is superior to other books on the same topic because this book is giving a real-life example while other books just provide information. This book is one of the best and most empowering stories I’ve ever read, I would recommend it to anybody who likes true stories or wants to make a difference in other people’s lives.

  3. Hillhurst School

    The book Stepping Stones talks about a girl in a Syrian family which has to move to seek safety from the Syrian civil war. The family travels across waters, walks many long distances and loses a lot of friends. When they arrive to safety even though they don’t know the language, they still know they are welcome there.

    I believe that all grade 4-5 students should read Stepping Stones because it has better information. I say this because the information is from a Syrian artist that probably knows alot about what’s happening in Syria. Because of this, it is far superior to other children’s books on Syria and the war. I’ve seen other books, for example War Kids (A Syrian Story) which was written by an author from England who might read the news but the news may be a little biased on the “home” country.

    This book doesn’t very clearly express the problem going on in Syria which is unemployment, the lack of political freedom and state repression, which lead to the war and I think that is an area of improvement for the author.

    Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the Syrian civil war. I rate this a 9/10 because the content was good. I could think of a lot of discussion questions. One of them was why do you think that the artist used stones to make the art instead of painting? The writing style was clear and it was all pretty good but the only thing I think they could improve on is having more information on the actual problem.

  4. Springbank Middle School

    The inspiration of this book was too amazing. Personally I like refugee stories and books about standing up to situations of oppression. Demetri

  5. Hillhurst school

    Review #2 For Escape From Syria
    By Jocelyn

    Escape From Syria is about a girl and her family having to leave Syria because of the war. They move to a different place but they can only stay there for six months. Her family doesn’t have enough money so her dad leaves to find a job. Her friend Mona who is thirteen years old is getting married for her safety so her mom wants her to get married to. Life for them is very difficult.
    Escape From Syria is an awesome book. I loved this book because it tells about a lot of people’s stories and what it was like for them during the war. I also liked how the book was very interesting and that there are facts at the end of the book. My favorite part of the book was when they got a new home.
    You should read Escape From Syria. I think you will love this book. If you don’t like violence you probably won’t like this book because there is blood shed in the pictures. Please try reading Escape From Syria by Samya Kullab.


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