The story behind My Home is in my Backpack
by Floris Books • 20 September 2024 • Picture Books • 0 Comments
“We have left our house behind,” Papa explains, “but our home is special: it is made from the people we love and the things we love doing.”
“Yes,” says Mama. “We all carry our special homes with us – in our backpacks and pockets, and in our hearts.”
My Home is in my Backpack
by Eugenia Perrella and Angela Salerna
Publishing March 2025!
Every day Clara and her family walk a long way. Sometimes they chat and joke, sometimes they must hide and keep silent. At night, in their village of tents, Clara visits her new friends to hear about their special homes: the things that light up the darkness for them.
For Clara, home is Mamá and Papá, her brother Pedro, Coco the dog, and drawing in her notebook. But she hopes that someday soon their journey will end, and she can put down her backpack and find a safe place for her special home to stay.
From the creators:
Today there are many children around the world who have to walk long distances in search of a safe place to live. These children leave behind the homes they know and carry only what they need. But their few belongings are not all they have. There are also things that can’t be seen – a song sung by heart, a story heard a thousand times, the hug of a parent, feelings of anger and fear – but also of hope.
When the journey seems endless, it’s the things that are kept in your heart, rather than your backpack, that endure.
While the reality of forced migration is obviously very hard, in this book we wanted to show that play, friendship and love are also present, and that the magic and innocence of childhood can remain.
— Eugenia Perrella and Angela Salerno
One of the sources of inspiration for Clara’s story came from seeing renowned photographer Gregg Segal’s Undaily Bread Project with the United Nations Refugee Agency, which shone a light on the crisis of refugees fleeing Venezuela. Migrating children and families were photographed surrounded by their few belongings: bottles of water, cookies, books, toys and bread. The portraits show both vulnerability and strength, and have a powerful message: that what they carry in their backpacks is not all they have; that these brave people carry a home with them, their special home.
My Home is in my Backpack is a poignant but hopeful view of forced migration and displacement told through the eyes of a child. Inspired by real-life refugee stories from Venezuela, Eugenia Perrella’s lyrical and affecting text and Angela Salerno’s striking illustrations gently offer children a glimpse of this important and timely subject, encouraging empathy and understanding.
