Ayah and the Big World Outside

Today is baking day.

Once a week Ayah and her mother get to use the tandoor oven at their refugee camp. While they bake, Ayah talks about her teacher asking the class what they want to be when they grow up. Her mother wonders if Ayah wants to be an engineer or a singer...but Ayah has never met anyone like that.

While getting some fresh air, Ayah rests her eyes until a swallow says hello. "Please can I have some bread?" it asks. Ayah shares her snack, and the swallow tells her about its travels. Ayah has never seen the world outside the fence--she thought it was all dangerous. The sparrow explains that there are many places without war, and he invites her to climb on his back to fly with him and see the world for herself. Together they soar over fields and mountains and busy cities, and when Ayah returns, she can dream of a future where she'll be free.

Available in French as Ayah et le vaste monde.

Julie Sedivy is a citizen of three countries. At the age of two, she left the country of her birth (Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) soon after the Soviet invasion of 1968. She has made her home in many places, including Montreal, upstate New York, Providence (Rhode Island) and Calgary, where she currently lives and writes. She has taught linguistics and psychology at Brown University and the University of Calgary, and is the author of several nonfiction books, including Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love. She is especially interested in the complicated and beautiful lives of people who are not sure where to call home.

Souad Shehab is a Palestinian writer who was born in a tent in a refugee camp in southwest Syria. She spent twenty-four years in the camp, where she experienced firsthand the difficulties of refugee life. Trained as a teacher, she taught in Syrian primary schools for twenty-five years and raised four of her own boys. She became a refugee a second time when civil war broke out in Syria, escaping to Lebanon and then arriving in Canada in 2017. She currently lives in Edmonton with her family, where she teaches preschool and is working toward her dream of establishing herself as a writer in her new home.

Barkha Lohia is an illustrator and visual artist who brings stories to life through her artwork--whether in picture books, editorials or prints. She is a recipient of a Binod Kanoria Illustration Award for A Tree of My Own, and she has illustrated books like So Many Leaves and Let's Talk About Trees. Barkha's work delves into the unseen connections between humans and nature, inviting deeper reflection and a sense of wonder. When she's not creating, she's out in the wild--clicking, sketching and drawing inspiration from the world around her.