No Water No Bread

The Spanish team of Amavisca and Guridi reduces migrant crises to their simplest terms. On one side of a chain-link fence, a small group of people colored in blue gather water from a well; Guridi draws the fence and the people with urgent black lines. On the other side, an orange-colored baker takes baguettes out of an oven for his compatriots. An orange man speaks through the fence to the blue people: “We don’t have enough water here. Could you please give us some?” “I’m sorry, it’s not on your land,” responds a blue adult. “This is our water.” When the blue adults ask the orange adults for bread, they’re met with the same refusal. But when two children meet face-to-face at the fence, they trade readily. “Why are our parents like this?” they wonder. Then green people appear, and a new section of fencing goes up—fortunately, there are green children, too. Amavisca and Guridi make a direct, useful, and powerful point about strangers, sharing resources, and how children often see more clearly than adults. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)