“I look up to the birds that seem to be following us. They are migrating just like us. And their journey, like ours, is very long, but they don’t have to cross any borders.” What is it like to have to leave everything behind and travel many miles to somewhere unfamiliar and strange? A mother and her two children set out on such a journey; one filled with fear of the unknown, but also great hope. Based on her own interactions with people forced to seek a new home, and told from the perspective of a young child, Francesca Sanna has created a beautiful and sensitive book that is full of significance for our time. With haunting echoes of current affairs this beautifully illustrated book explores the unimaginable decisions made as a family leave their home and everything they know to escape the turmoil and tragedy brought by war. This book will stay with you long after the last page is turned. From the author: The Journey is actually a story about many journeys, and it began with the story of two girls I met in a refugee center in Italy. After meeting them I realized that behind their journey lay something very powerful. So I began collecting more stories of migration and interviewing many people from many different countries. A few months later, in September 2014, when I started studying a Master of Arts in Illustration at the Academy of Lucerne, I knew I wanted to create a book about these true stories. Almost every day on the news we hear the terms "migrants" and "refugees" but we rarely ever speak to or hear the personal journeys that they have had to take. This book is a collage of all those personal stories and the incredible strength of the people within them.
Through beautiful and powerful illustrations, 'The Journey' vividly explores the universal story of all those who have had to leave behind the place and people they love. --The Guardian, The Best Children's Books of 2016 [The Journey] is a powerful book that is sure to encourage conversations with young readers about the struggles children living in unsafe environments currently face. --Bookish [Francesca Sanna's artwork] is both realistic and fantastical, done in a striking, graphic style. 'The Journey' will be a wonderful teaching tool for those who are welcoming refugees into their community. For those who have escaped war, this book might prompt them to share their own stories. --The New York Times
이탈리아 일러스트레이터이자 그래픽 디자이너입니다. 일러스트레이터가 되겠단 꿈을 이루려고, 스위스에 있는 루체른 아트 앤 디자인 학교에서 일러스트를 공부했습니다. 이 책이 글을 쓰고 그림을 그린 첫 번째 그림책입니다.