Stories Aloud
Look Inside!
Publication date: 02 May 2019
ISBN: 9781788004480
Size: 270 x 270 mm
Length: 32 pages
Picture Books

The Suitcase

Quantity

Shortlisted for Oscar’s Book Prize 2020

Shortlisted for the 2020 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

“At a time when over 65 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, this beautifully illustrated and wise, gentle tale of tolerance and kindness for fellow humans resonates deeply. I hope all parents share The Suitcase with their children.” – Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner

“A simple, powerful way to introduce the idea of kindness to strangers to young children” – Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo

“Welcome and understanding are at the heart of this children’s book by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros. Beautifully illustrated, The Suitcase explores themes of displacement and difference in a way young audiences can easily engage with. This is more important than ever now that a record number of people have been forced from their homes due to war and persecution.” – Laura Padoan, UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency

“One of the most empathetic children’s books on giving kindness to strangers ever published […] Be warned, this will make you burst into tears.” – Amanda Craig, New Statesman

“This original, striking and simple picture book about animals responding to the arrival of a strange creature . . . is a beautifully succinct and powerful lesson in empathy for outsiders.” – Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times

“The Suitcase is a beautiful picture book about kindness to strangers and not knowing what other people’s stories are. It made us feel sadder but gladder at the same time and it is so wonderful and enriching.” – Cathy Rentzenbrink

When a strange-looking animal arrives pulling a big suitcase, the other animals are curious. What on earth could be inside that suitcase? A teacup? Maybe. A table and chair? Perhaps. A whole home and hillside with trees? This stranger must be fibbing! But when the animals break into the suitcase and discover a very special photograph, they begin to understand what the strange creature has been through, and together they create a very special welcome present . . .

Stories Aloud

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“At a time when over 65 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, this beautifully illustrated and wise, gentle tale of tolerance and kindness for fellow humans resonates deeply. I hope all parents share The Suitcase with their children.”

– Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner

“[O]ne of the most empathetic children’s books on giving kindness to strangers ever published… Be warned, this will make you burst into tears.”

– Amanda Craig, The New Statesman

“This original, striking and simple picturebook about animals responding to the arrival of a strange creature who is tired and sad and carries a suitcase full of memories, is a beautifully succinct and powerful lesson in empathy for outsiders.”

– Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times

“The story has a feel of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, but for a preschool audience.”

– Imogen Russell-Williams, The Guardian

“The Suitcase is a brilliantly empathetic portrayal of the current refugee crisis and questions how we treat people who have lost everything. Simple, stunning, and devastating all at once.”

– Emma Dunn and Sarah Mallony, The Scotsman

“We slip so easily into being tribal, into being suspicious of people who seem different to us. The Suitcase gently and powerfully explores the transformation that comes when we manage to open our minds and hearts.”

– Miranda McKearney OBE, Empathy Lab

“Beautifully illustrated, The Suitcase explores themes of displacement and difference in a way young audiences can easily engage with.”

– Laura Padoan, spokesperson for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

“The Suitcase is a beautiful picture book about kindness to strangers and not knowing what other people’s stories are. It made us feel sadder but gladder at the same time and it is so wonderful and enriching.”

– Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love

“The strength and simplicity of this picture book’s message is enhanced by the use of a limited but carefully chosen palette set against white space.”

– Ann Lazim, CLPE

“Written in response to the refugee crisis, this empathetic, timely story is an excellent way of exploring the issue with young children.”

– Fiona Noble, The Bookseller

“It’s beautifully illustrated, with distinctive pages that keep the reader’s engaged. This will easily become a bedtime favourite.”

– Méadbh McDonnell, The Clare People

“A wonderful book, The Suitcase is a simple story with a profound and moving message for us all.”

– BookTrust

“A sweet, gentle introduction to the idea of what home is, and that maybe home is something we bring with us.”

– Margaret Wallace-Jones, The Alligator’s Mouth

“A powerful and memorable way to introduce children to the idea of kindness and compassion.”

– Flora Thomas, Absolutely Mama

“The message here is powerful and profound and beautifully served by the simplicity of the telling.”

– Andrea Reece, LoveReading4Kids

“A powerful and deceptively simple picture book about kindness and friendship, especially towards strangers.”

“Beautiful, poignant and profound, ‘The Suitcase’ reminds us all of the importance of being kind and thoughtful, about standing up to the negative ideas of others and of welcoming ‘strangers’ and making them friends.”

– North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award (blog)

“A simple, powerful way to introduce the idea of kindness to strangers to young children.”

-Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo

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Arabic, Catalan, Chinese traditional, Chinese simplified, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Portuguese EU, Portuguese LA, Russian, Serbian, Spanish EU, Spanish LA, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, US English

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