A very well done book about a hard topic. A gentle explanation for kids without sugar coating the situations these refugees find themselves in.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher on netgalley.

The text is simple to discuss with kids, the pictures are beautiful and heartbreaking, and the message of acceptance and love is powerful in our current political climate.

So many mixed emotions.... yes, I feel bad for children of war. NO child should have to experience war. I have family members and neighbors who were in WW2 Europe as children and witnessed war up close and personal in VERY bad ways. But find my self conflicted about the refugees.... I can't really recommend this book at all. Its smacks of propaganda, war porn. Nope.

A simple book with a strong and heartfelt massage. It should be read by all ages.

Where Will I Live? by Rosemary McCarney is a heart wrenching book that had me choking sobs back as I read it. Although there is only about a half a sentence per page, it is the dynamic and powerful images that tell the story. It simply asks the child where am I to sleep, who will be my friends, will I have a bed, where will be my home, and will I be welcome by you? But all the questions are framed differently of course, but the message is there and the images show what they have to go through to find a home. Adults will see the side of hopelessness and inability of trying to protect the young from something out of our control. Children will probably connect to the children in the book and wonder what would happen to me if this is to happen, a good empathy lesson. Compassion tenderly growing. A great book to spread the empathy for this much needed cause. The world needs more love and caring attitude. Compassion breeds action. Action breeds solutions. The money this book brings goes toward refugee children's programs around the world. Thanks NetGalley and Second Story Press for allowing me to read this book.

Wonderful story about refugees who are constantly on the move.

The photos and text are well done, evocative but not scary for young readers. I think this book would be a great conversation starter for teachers/parents and children.

Rosemary McCarney, author of books such as Every Day Is Malala Day and Because I Am a Girl, has a new picture book that portrays the uncertainty and the hope of refugee children. Where Will I Live? has full-page color photos of scenes from Cameroon to Slovenia, places around the world where there are refugees. Each photo captures a moment in time; it might be fleeing an armed conflict, entering a tent city, or some children playing in a camp. What unites the scenes is the presence of children in every one. They might look frightened or tired, or sometimes they might be smiling with a new friend. Their faces make a remote situation recognizable and something to which readers can relate. We've all felt tired or scared or relieved and those are commonalities that help us connect to the text.

Each of the photos is unobtrusively labeled with the location where it was taken. Beneath the photo is a short bit of text that ties the images together. "Sometimes scary things happen to good people," it begins. Then it explains why people might have to leave their homes and look for a safe place. It talks of how they reach this new place and what sort of shelter they might find. But the biggest point is saved for last, the hope that these children have for someone to say "Welcome home" at the end of their journey.

As Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Rosemary McCarney hears of situations like these every day. Using photos taken by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, she has created an accessible book about the topic for young readers. But it could also be used as an entry point for older readers - who could then research the situations in each of these places, plot them on a map, or try to find a service project to help the refugee populations. This would make a wonderful addition to classrooms and school libraries.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Yes!! Everything yes! This is so wonderful - such a great overview, and introduction, to the issue of refugees and emergency immigration to Canada. I will be using this in my own Canadian history class which I teach, and I hope it will touch the hearts of my young students.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book for my fair and honest review.

A beautiful book of photographs of children caught in a brutal situation in war torn countries around the world. Poignant, sad, with some hope mixed in too. I would very much want to share this with a child of mine.

Where Will I Live? is an extremely timely nonfiction title for kindergarten to third graders about refugees fleeing their homes for safety and a better life. Readers learn how refugees travel—walk, run, ride on the backs of trucks, and trek through the desert—and where they are running to geographically and structurally, which is sometimes unknown. Will they live under a staircase, along the travelled roads, or in a tent? Even the climate makes a difference. Each question or set of questions is paired with a picture and its respective country. Refugees are not just one culture, religion, group, or ethnicity. After all of this dangerous and indeterminate traveling, McCarney ends with the notion of hope: hope that someone will welcome these children and their families into their homes, communities, neighborhoods, and countries. Hope for friends, shelter, and a better quality of life.

The first person narration humanizes the children seen in pictures, making them relatable to readers. The questions asked throughout the book emphasize the uncertainty and severity of refugee children’s situations while also demonstrating that like everyone else, they just desire basic needs such as food, shelter, and love. While the words on the page are seemingly less serious, each picture tells its own story. Simple yet packed with meaning and at times, heart-wrenching, each picture leaves a lot to be discussed and read into. Readers see a small child sleeping on the street, boys peering out from a rudimentary tent, and a boy warming his bare hands from the cold. Readers stare back at faces through a fence and watch as families struggle to traverse across the barren desert. In a time where the United States, especially, is revising and reevaluating its immigration and travel policies, Where Will I Live? addresses discrimination and intolerance head on with the innocent and beautiful faces of refugee children who need help, support, and resources. I would recommend this title for any parent looking to explain the hardships families face all over the world and how refugees are people just like everyone else; this is reason enough to show understanding, open our arms, and embrace humanity.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Second Story Press for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review by Christine Frascarelli

Beautiful and profoundly emotional! McCarney brings the discussion of refugees to the youngest readers.

Wow. The cover is so compelling and the pictures are heartbreaking. Its timing couldn't be more perfect. For parents/educators that want to share the story of refugees around the world to young children, the photos and the simplistic wording will meet that need. I do have a note for parents with children that were as sensitive as I was as a young child. The pictures truly are heartbreaking and moving. Kids that have not be exposed to the fact that there are people literally running from wars in their homeland may be shocked and scared. That being said, it is a great resource to use to share the topic with young children.

"Where Will I Live?" by Rosemary McCarney is a powerful, but touching book about refugees. The simplicity of the text and the real photographs make is accessible for young children. While I think it is likely that this picture book will be more often read to non-refugee children to help them understand the issue, the writing style (written for a refugee child) will still work well-enough.

There is a page with an incongruent photo and text that I found distracting though. Page 28's text says "will it be hot and dry?" and the boy is in front of a giant puddle. I think that is too contradictory for students and wish the image had been a different one to support the text.

Overall, a good book worthy of being shared with children to help them gain understanding and build empathy.

The photos are breathtaking and relatable - putting faces to a very important issue. Elementary schools and children's libraries will find this book is a good investment. The text is a concise explanation of rational questions children this age will ask. I would pair it up with some fiction chapter books and use Where Will I Live as an intro to a social studies lesson or unit.

This is a beautiful book made up of photos that show young children the journey of refugees without disturbing images. The text is simple and to the point without being preachy - it would make a lovely introduction for young children to the refugee crisis. A very well thought out and age appropriate book, highly recommend it.

This is a great book to read to children who are learning about, hearing about or asking questions about the plight of refugees. I taught at a school that has over 50% of the population who had immigrated from various nations. This would have been a great tool to use with those classes to continue the conversations and to assist with understanding about their classmates as well as the children that had been arriving as refugees in the area.

The photographs in this book are mesmerizing. They show children and families in various situations, living in refugee camps, escaping on boats, wandering and dealing with having no home. The simple narrative, explains the plight of these scared weary refugees who feel lost and hopeless and just want to obtain a normal life once again. Their lives are difficult, they are constantly on the move and never know what they will face the next day. The parents are worried about the family's safety from wars, corrupt officials etc. However, through all this, the children play, make friends and have hope that they will find a home. They wonder what it will be like and what their new lives will bring. The book ends on a high note, which unfortunately is not the way all their lives and struggles will end, but it is for children so there is some sugar coating. One of the things I really like about this book is that all profits will go to refugee organizations to help those who are in this situation.

This book will teach children about the plight of others, how they live and what they deal with on a day-to-day basis. It will also help to teach them how to be grateful for their own country, and most of all compassion to enable them to reach out and help those less fortunate. I highly, highly recommend this book to all schools and public libraries. It's timing with the current situations around the world is perfect.

I don’t really know how to rate this book. On the one hand, readers will find the photos of refugee children from all over the world absolutely riveting. The accompanying text is written simply enough that elementary-aged children could read it themselves. The topic not only is extremely pertinent at a time when the country that once raised its lamp to the tired, the poor, the huddled masses now demonizes the religion of one-seventh of the planet and dismisses the suffering of men, women, and children whose only crime is to be trapped in a civil war or be the object of authoritarian persecution. Rosemary McCarney’s slim book moved me very, very much.

On the other hand, I, a sensitive child, would have been absolutely terrified to discover that children in other lands were so insecure about where they would be sleeping. I can imagine a like-minded child bursting into tears, worried that they would be forced from their own home. I wish this had been either a photo-laden book for adults or a picture book with a happy ending for children. As it is Where Will I Live? is too simplistic for adults and too fearsome for children.

I feel terrible saying this, as Canadian humanitarian Rosemary McCarney has stepped into a void at a pivotal time. There are very few books on refugees for children — The Arrival, Playing War and How Many Days to America?: A Thanksgiving Story come to mind. In my home city of Louisville, every school has its share of refugee children, and a different book would have been so welcome. But I think that Where Will I Live? won’t fit the bill.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Second Story Press in exchange for an honest review.

Stunning photographs bring to life the uncertainties of being a homeless refugee.

Just as she did in The Way to School, Rosemary McCarney captures the experiences of children around the world in Where Will I Live? McCarney, Canada's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N., spotlights countries around the world where refugees have been displaced due to war and conflict. What a scary experience, especially for children.

McCarney's photographs capture both the uncertainty and fear of the children, and the joy and optimism that many share. Even in the worst of circumstances, children still forge friendships with their peers and find time to play. Most kids never have to endure the kinds of experiences the kids in Where Will I Live? go through. For that vast majority of children (and adults) Where Will I Live? provides colorful examples to inspire us to be thankful for national and residential stability. More importantly, McCarney inspires us to think about how we, individually and as a nation, might be able to help refugee families.





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!