Stepping Stones / حَصى الطُرُقات by Margriet Ruurs

Yet water-worn stones have distinct individuality and sensory elements that suggest life itself. Young people have been bombarded by news and images of a river of nameless humanity. One “stone” may appear different from another, but none is unique or valuable. Our mind might digest numbers or distances or locations, but no human connection is triggered in our hearts. That reminded me of the style in which refugee stories are reported: massive numbers of nameless bits, one blending into the next. The endpapers display an intriguing variety of stones, yet their random arrangement has no story. Those soon disappear, immersing readers in this journey. In the earliest spreads, the “face” stones have minimalist eye placements. Badr instills life into his stone-art with seemingly simple shifts in background, angles, and minute adjustments of one stone in relation to another. That investment continues in the visual narrative. In poetry, shifts of word order, punctuation, and line breaks take on enormous significance, requiring readers to invest emotion and empathy. The lyrical phrasing of Margriet’s free verse narrative captures the eloquence and simplicity of young Rama’s reactions to her experiences. Rama’s freedom, safety, and life itself shift and crumble beneath her feet and her family eventually joins the migration. When war disrupts their lives, neighbors begin flowing past their home like a river. Rama says, “When I was little, not so long ago, my brother Sami…and I…laughed…. Ruurs’s text is mirrored in Arabic and introduces readers to a family life of love and security, one that might feel familiar: The rooster crows young Rama awake, breakfast includes yogurt, bread, and food from the garden. Sadly, too few families manage to achieve such positive outcomes. Although Margriet’s version of this imagined family’s journey incorporates harsh details, it has an uplifting and potentially realistic ending. She considers it realistic fiction, because Rama, the young Syrian girl, is a composite, representing countless individual, actual lives facing similar threatening realities. When I interviewed Margriet I wondered if this is a work of fiction or nonfiction. I love that her story behind the book is shared as a forward rather than in back matter, because it sets the stage for the reality behind her eloquent story. In the forward of STEPPING STONES: A REFUGEE FAMILY’S JOURNEY she relates the complex pursuit that resulted from her first glimpse of Badr’s images. There, she first viewed the stone-assemblage scenes of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr.

Her visits to international schools and other global destinations have inspired several of her titles.īut Margriet found inspiration for her latest picture book while at home, scrolling through Facebook posts. Canadian author Margriet Ruurs is an educator, a prolific author, and a world traveler.

Stepping Stones / حَصى الطُرُقات by Margriet Ruurs