The Little Refugee
By Anh & Suzane Do
Illustrated by Bruce Whatley.
The Little Refugee is a warm and refreshing exploration of migrant experiences. It is also a testimony to hope, hard work and resilience. It speaks to those who are uncertain about the journey that they have embarked upon,to leave one country and settle in another. It gives comfort to those who have either not yet completed that journey, or who have found their initial impressions or experiences disappointing. Anh Do’s family made a new life against impossible odds. His story is an inspiring and uplifting example of how life might be re-invented and how one might find a new beginning.
By Anh & Suzane Do
Illustrated by Bruce Whatley.
The Little Refugee is a warm and refreshing exploration of migrant experiences. It is also a testimony to hope, hard work and resilience. It speaks to those who are uncertain about the journey that they have embarked upon,to leave one country and settle in another. It gives comfort to those who have either not yet completed that journey, or who have found their initial impressions or experiences disappointing. Anh Do’s family made a new life against impossible odds. His story is an inspiring and uplifting example of how life might be re-invented and how one might find a new beginning.
Click the video below to listen to and watch the text.
Comprehension and Discussion Questions:
1. Anh Do has used both humour and pathos to tell his story. Humour often stems from adversity (a difficult or unpleasant situation). Which incidents did you find funny, and why? Discuss.
2. Read for the ‘sub-text’ and observe how the pictures often add to or illuminate meaning, complementing and enriching the text. Give one example with evidence for this.
3. The first person memoir is a form of writing which requires the author to not only have a story to tell, but a style and voice in which to tell it. Discuss the various narrative devices used in this book to convey the feelings of Anh Do and his family as they forge a new life in Australia.
4. How does Bruce Whatley convey emotions in his images?
5. This book demonstrates the hardships refugees often endure in order to reach aplace of safety and refuge. Discuss the situations which are encountered by Anh Do’s family on the journey to Australia. How might you have reacted to them?
6. What is a refugee?
7. What is an asylum seeker?
8. Which countries are they escaping from today?
9. ‘I had different food to the other kids and some of them laughed at me.’ Why would students laugh at someone just because they are different?
10. What gives people in such dangerous situations the strength to go on? Does the book give you any indication of how Anh’s family overcame their fear?
11. The artist’s images are deliberately executed in two contrasting styles.
* The cartoon-like coloured images are contemporary and childlike,
* and the sepia coloured more realistic ones are historical i.e. they depict Anh Do’s childhood in Vietnam and journey to Australia.
Discuss this contrast and how it influences the reader.
1. Anh Do has used both humour and pathos to tell his story. Humour often stems from adversity (a difficult or unpleasant situation). Which incidents did you find funny, and why? Discuss.
2. Read for the ‘sub-text’ and observe how the pictures often add to or illuminate meaning, complementing and enriching the text. Give one example with evidence for this.
3. The first person memoir is a form of writing which requires the author to not only have a story to tell, but a style and voice in which to tell it. Discuss the various narrative devices used in this book to convey the feelings of Anh Do and his family as they forge a new life in Australia.
4. How does Bruce Whatley convey emotions in his images?
5. This book demonstrates the hardships refugees often endure in order to reach aplace of safety and refuge. Discuss the situations which are encountered by Anh Do’s family on the journey to Australia. How might you have reacted to them?
6. What is a refugee?
7. What is an asylum seeker?
8. Which countries are they escaping from today?
9. ‘I had different food to the other kids and some of them laughed at me.’ Why would students laugh at someone just because they are different?
10. What gives people in such dangerous situations the strength to go on? Does the book give you any indication of how Anh’s family overcame their fear?
11. The artist’s images are deliberately executed in two contrasting styles.
* The cartoon-like coloured images are contemporary and childlike,
* and the sepia coloured more realistic ones are historical i.e. they depict Anh Do’s childhood in Vietnam and journey to Australia.
Discuss this contrast and how it influences the reader.
Intertextuality: noun the interrelationship between texts, especially works of literature; the way that
similar or related texts influence, reflect, or differ from each other:
The clip below shows the story of another refugee:
similar or related texts influence, reflect, or differ from each other:
The clip below shows the story of another refugee:
Comprehension and Discussion Questions:
1. Can the class identify some of the reasons why the children had to leave their homelands?
• How would it feel to be banned from practicing your religion or speaking about your political or religious beliefs?
• Reflect on what it might be like to live in a dangerous place.
2. What were some of the feelings that the children described they felt when they left their homelands, and arrived in the UK?
• Reflect on how it might feel to arrive in the UK as a young refugee.
• Reflect on what it might feel like to have to leave a family member or close friend behind.
3. How would it feel to be unable to speak the
language of your classmates?
• What would you do to make friends?
• In pairs, get the children to try and have a conversation without using any words. How do they find it? What are the challenges?
1. Can the class identify some of the reasons why the children had to leave their homelands?
• How would it feel to be banned from practicing your religion or speaking about your political or religious beliefs?
• Reflect on what it might be like to live in a dangerous place.
2. What were some of the feelings that the children described they felt when they left their homelands, and arrived in the UK?
• Reflect on how it might feel to arrive in the UK as a young refugee.
• Reflect on what it might feel like to have to leave a family member or close friend behind.
3. How would it feel to be unable to speak the
language of your classmates?
• What would you do to make friends?
• In pairs, get the children to try and have a conversation without using any words. How do they find it? What are the challenges?
The link below shows the issues Australia has with "people smugglers"
Other useful links
Writing Task: Persuasive Writing
Should Australia accept refugees who arrive by boat?
Should Australia accept refugees who arrive by boat?