*Winner of Best Picture Book at the Diverse Book Award 2024* A powerful and timely story, exploring the journey of two young refugee children in search of safety. Pe rfect for opening up conversations about conflict and war, encouraging empathy and understanding. A young boy and his older sister have left home to play a game. To win, she tells him, they must travel across endless lands together and make it to the finish line. Children they meet along the way imagine what might be waiting for them across the border: A spotted dog? Ice cream! Or maybe a new school. But the journey is difficult, and the monsters are more real than they imagined. And when it no longer feels like a game, the two children must still find a way to forge ahead, and reach the other side. Beautifully brought to life by author-illustrator Erika Meza, this is a symbolic and emotionally rich picture book about the spirit and strength it takes to leave your home behind.
Shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal, the Jhalek Prize, the Diverse Book Awards, t he Inclusive Books for Children Award and the Little Rebels Award, and selected by Empathy Lab for The 2024 Read for Empathy Collection.