Colours of Home
Miriam Latimer
Graffeg

Told in rhyme and narrated by a young girl, this is a story of welcoming refugees, young children’s capacity for kindness and communication through play and pictures, and making strangers feel welcome and at home.

The child narrator tells how she does her best to dispel the obvious sadness that the newcomer feels as only after some time, she unpacks her few things onto the floor. These include some pens and paper, and this starts a pictorial exchange between the two children relating to their homes, families and other personal things. From one drawn by the refugee child it’s evident why she feels so sad.

Little by little through small acts of kindness – meeting her host’s friends at school, learning words from each other’s home language and a video chat with the newcomer’s family – she starts to feel better.

The narrator realises that she can’t make everything seem right but by standing beside her new friend at all times and showing empathy, she will feel upbeat for longer periods. Then another child, new to the country, joins their class looking very worried as he stands watching the other children enjoying themselves: you can guess who asks the boy to join her in play, someone who radiates colours -‘ Colours of life, that unite and restore.’