Migrants

A heartstoppingly beautiful wordless picture book about migration and empathy.

The migrants must leave the forest. Borders are crossed, sacrifices made, loved ones are lost. It takes such courage to reach the end. At last the journey is over and the migrants arrive. This is the new place.

Through extraordinarily powerful images, Migrants narrates the journey of a group of animals that leaves behind a leafless forest. With forceful simplicity, Migrants shows us the courage, loss and underlying hope migration takes. And that arriving in a new land may mean burying a portion of the past.

Children will empathise quickly with the elegantly illustrated animal characters, each of whom have their own identity with details like clothing, colour choices and expressions. The dark pages add weight to the silence of their journey and the individual animals help make the story a universal one. A perfect book to help teach children about refugees and migration, with humanity, inclusivity and empathy.

Readers can’t fail to be moved by this deeply emotional and thought-provoking tale.

“"Peruvian artist Watanabe creates a story about a group of animal migrants who trudge through a dark forest, carrying their belongings in bundles. A fox, several rabbits, an alligator, a mandrill, an elephant, and more make the trip upright, wearing street clothes. They're trailed by Death, a slight, almost apologetic figure with a skull for a head and wearing a magnificent flowered robe. The animals move through a forest of silvery, leafless trees toward the ocean, where a boat awaits, and crowd into it. Death follows, flying on a blue ibis. The waves tear the boat apart; when the animals gain the far shore, they realize that one of their number has died, and they gather around the body. When they arrive at last in a place where the trees bear green leaves and flowers, there's no rejoicing, just puzzled exhaustion. Context-setting will be needed for children unfamiliar with the plight of present-day migrants, but Watanabe captures with grace both dignity and determination, and the brilliance of her art's hues against a velvety black backdrop gives the somber spreads great visual power."--Publishers Weekly”

"I don’t think I can come up with enough superlatives for Watanabe’s superb illustrations. She captures a range of emotions in the faces of the anthropomorphic animals."

"This book is perfect for exploring with children. It will open conversations around migration and what it means to leave home to seek refuge."

"It’s a rare feat: a wordless picture book in which the absence of text intensifies the stories it tells. With its stark dearth of color, seen only where necessary, and evocative imagery, the artist’s pictures make the migrant’s journey — distinct yet everyday — feel palpable. A raw, startling portrait of migration."

"Magnificent illustrations with black backgrounds and vibrant colors effectively tell this wordless tale about migration...The weight of their experience and message is powerful.
Outstanding International Book 2021"

"An important story, told with sensitivity and a firm understanding of the form, this is an excellent wordless picture-book."

Issa Watanabe was born in Peru in 1980, the daughter of an illustrator and a poet. She studied Literature and Fine Arts and Illustration. Watanabe has led and developed several projects to promote social integration through art. She has published a number of books and was selected for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Book Fair 2018.

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