“Encouraging our girls to grow up with empathy and compassion for other people is probably one of our most important priorities as a family,” says Sadie Mackie, who shares her life and reading adventures with daughters Gracie, five, and Margot, four, on Instagram (@raisingsmallreaders). “We live in Somerset and I’m very aware that it can be quite insular here. We want them to experience media that reflects different experiences, family types, sexualities and ethnicities. It’s really important they have an understanding of what other people experience,” she says.
Mackie’s desire to nurture compassion and humanity in the next generation is something that all subscribers to Save the Children’s Wonderbooks seem to share. Aimed at children aged from four to 10 years old, these books tell stories inspired by real girls and boys from all over the world overcoming different types of hardship. “These books truly awaken a sense of empathy in children,” says photographer and activist Misan Harriman, who last year visited Somaliland as a Save the Children ambassador, and met some of the 2 million children who are currently facing severe acute malnutrition in east Africa.
“The children I met were born into a hellscape, many of them didn’t receive enough nutrition in their mothers’ wombs. So even before they came into the world, they were fighting,” says Harriman. “I took my lens to bear witness to people’s humility and fortitude – from the 95-year-old grandparents to the overworked and overtired parents, through to the children who are warriors in a way they shouldn’t have to be.”
Misan Harriman with his daughters. Photograph: Camilla Harriman
This experience, of children having to forgo their childhoods to deal with problems that are of grownups’ making, is sadly lived out across the world. But now, as well as working to support children threatened by floods, famine, the climate crisis and war, Save the Children is bringing their experiences to life through Wonderbooks. Asif and the Songbird was the first to be published and it recounts the real-life story of Asif, a Syrian boy who is forced to leave home when war breaks out, but who eventually finds sanctuary with his family in a Lebanese refugee camp.
“These books bring the lives and stories of children into our homes in a way that is easy to digest and urgently important,” says Harriman, who has two daughters, aged two and four. “They allow us to understand the lived experiences of others. My daughter doesn’t understand the details of the global refugee crisis but she does understand that this is about a little person looking for a safe place to sleep. She asks: ‘Why did he have to leave? Are we helping them?’ That’s very powerful. We always learn more from our children if we care to listen.”
Sadie Mackie enjoys Wonderbooks with her daughters
Save the Children’s multimedia producer Jonathan Hyams was fortunate enough to meet the real Asif back in 2018, when his work for the charity took him to Lebanon. There, during three visits over several months, he gained the trust of Asif and his siblings, who had fled to Lebanon from Syria following the death of their father. At just 11 years old, Asif was going to school while working in agriculture to bring in money for the family.
“He’d been through so much for a child his age and it had toughened him up – he’d taken on the role of being the ‘man of the house’. You could tell that the responsibility weighed heavily on him, but then at other times you’d see his childlike side and his optimism for the future. He’d talk about wanting to be like Ronaldo,” says Hyams.
When they met, Asif was at a crossroads. He was top of his class and enjoying school but because of the pressure to earn money, he was considering dropping out. Thankfully, Save the Children stepped in with an emergency cash grant that enabled his mother to start a small business selling clothes, which meant Asif could continue in school.
This is just one of the ways Save the Children helps child refugees across the world – delivering nutrition, healthcare and education to kids who have been uprooted from all that is familiar to them.
“Asif was attending one of our child-friendly spaces, which operate all over the world,” says Hyams. “There’s so much pressure on parents who have been displaced, so providing a safe space where children are free and supported to learn, play and be with other children makes such a difference to the whole family. The teachers and facilitators run group games and activities, as well as talking to the children about their rights and giving them the life skills to keep themselves safe.”
A child-friendly space run by a Save the Children partner in the tented settlement in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Photograph: Jonathan Hyams/Save the Children
For Francesca Reid, assistant headteacher at Reach academy in Feltham, it’s vital that children and teenagers learn about the challenges faced by refugee children like Asif, particularly as we now face the largest displacement of people in Europe since the second world war – a crisis fuelled by the war in Ukraine. Indeed, there are more displaced people globally now than at any other time since 1945. She says Wonderbooks humanise an issue that can otherwise feel complex and far away. “Most children, from as young as four, will have overheard something about refugees, asylum seekers and war, and that can potentially feel scary and overwhelming,” she says. “To have a book like Asif and the Songbird, which demonstrates the experience from a child’s perspective, is really helpful. Wonderbooks give children a realistic picture of people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds in a way that doesn’t homogenise, marginalise or sensationalise their lived experience.”
Sadie Mackie chose to share Asif and the Songbird with her daughters separately as she knew they might react differently to its themes, but she says both of them were equally struck by the fact that it’s based on a real family. “This was the first time they grasped what a refugee is – and they understood the emotion behind it. We don’t shy away from big topics so it prompted a conversation: should we take in refugees? What if we don’t have room? Straight away, they said they could share our house.”
For Save the Children’s Jonathan Hyams, it’s a privilege to share stories like Asif’s through Wonderbooks. “Children have this ability to strike at the heart of the matter because they’re not entwined in the politics or history. And when you find a child like Asif who is able to describe these big adult subjects through his own eyes and express them simply it really cuts through – it’s very powerful.”
Five tips for reading Asif and the Songbird with your child
Before you delve into the story, teacher Francesca Reid suggests using the cover to start a discussion of what the story might be about. “We call it dialogic reading,” she says. “Asking questions helps to hook a child in and having a conversation can give the story context, which is really important for their understanding.”
If you need help with answering questions like: “What is a refugee?” and “Why do refugees exist?” then turn to the Grown-Up’s Guides that accompany every story and frame complex information in easy, digestible language.
The illustrations are a great way to build awareness of different cultures, says Reid. In Asif and the Songbird, we see Asif and his family sharing a meal – sitting on a rug, in a courtyard, surrounded by flowers. “It’s eye-opening in the detail,” says Reid. “Ask your child to describe what they see and how it’s different from how they might eat their family meal.”
Talk about how the book made your child feel at the end – simple questions like: “Which parts made you feel happy or sad?” can prompt a meaningful conversation and also let them air anything that is troubling them.
“Getting children invested in a story is what reading is all about,” says Reid. “Follow-up activities are great for this, as they embed the story in the child’s memory and make it even more meaningful.” With this in mind, take a look at the Grown-Up’s Guide that comes with each book for activity and game ideas related to the story.
Introduce your child to the big issues – from the refugee crisis to climate change – with a Wonderbooks subscription. Discover more here
