About this item
For young Ali, a former refugee from Afghanistan, "home" is where his family is together.Although his family is safe in their new country, Ali finds himself wishing he could go back to Afghanistan. A day spent picking blackberries with Nana reminds him of their old house with the mulberry tree he loved, and the day the soldiers came. He recalls their nighttime flight and the crowded buses and airplane that took him to this beautiful but unfamiliar place. When Ali and Nana spot a bluebird, she tells him to make a wish. Ali wishes to go home, but, as he comes to learn, home is not a place. Home is the love his family has for each other.In If You See a Bluebird, Bahram Rahman, author of ALA Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book A Sky-Blue Bench, reflects on the experience of former refugees as they learn to adapt and embrace a new country and a new home.
About the Author
Bahram Rahman was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and grew up during the civil war and the Taliban regime. He earned a medical degree at Kabul Medical University and a master's degree in public policy at the University of Erfurt, Germany, while also working as an activist in Afghanistan in the areas of gender equality and youth political participation. Bahram came to Canada as a refugee in 2012, and today he is a senior policy advisor at the Ministry of Health in Ontario. His first picture book, Governor General's Literary Award finalist , was praised by the for documenting the barriers to education experienced by girls in war-torn countries and their resilience and ingenuity in overcoming them.
