![\"Dreams](\"http:\/\/mirrorswindowsdoors.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DreamsOfFreedom.jpg\")
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<\/br> The different dreams of freedom presented are not fantastical or imaginary \u2013 indeed, most of them are to be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.\u00a0 This could make for somewhat depressing reading but, in fact, Dreams of Freedom<\/em> is a hugely inspiring and uplifting, and deeply moving, book: firstly because of the quality of the single quotations under each heading, drawn from people who really know what freedom and the lack of freedom are (in fact several of them have at some point been declared prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International); and secondly because of the progression of the different dreams of freedom.\u00a0 The last two put the key, as it were, into the readers’ hands to open the door to doing not just thinking: ‘Freedom to take responsibility’, citing Nelson Mandela, and ‘Freedom to make a difference.’ And thirdly because the illustrations are superlative: they offer a blend of realism and imagination that will appeal to children and allow them creative space for their own ideas: Shirin Adl’s collage illustration to Anatole France’s ‘Freedom to Dream’ quotation shows ordinary people in a busy street, with a child and a woman aglow as we are given a glimpse of their exhilarating dreams – and there will be plenty of young readers who also dream of having a pet dragon…<\/p>\n Jackie Morris depicts a goldfinch in a cage with a cat hanging onto it for ‘Freedom to enjoy life and liberty’. \u00a0It’s an ambiguous painting, beautiful and meticulous as all Morris’ artwork is, but menacing and capturing a moment of stillness amidst the torment that is so apt for the almost frenzied words of Afghan poet Nadia Anjuman, murdered because of her strivings to give freedom to her voice: ‘Oh, I will love the day when I break out of this cage,\/ Escape this solitary exile and sing wildly.’ \u00a0A few pages on, Mordicai Gerstein divides the spread between\u00a0darkness,\u00a0loaded\u00a0with chains and thorns and a hanging noose, and light, with colourful flowers and birds singing in glorious sunshine, to illustrate\u00a0Harriet Tubman’s words describing her feelings as she ‘crossed that line’ between slavery and freedom so that an inkling of\u00a0the\u00a0‘glory’\u00a0she experienced\u00a0rubs off on us readers. \u00a0The final ‘chapter’ of the book, ‘Freedom to make a difference’, highlights the Chinese proverb that inspired Amnesty International founder Peter Benenson: \u2018It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness\u2019.\u00a0 Chris Riddell\u2019s illustration combines his talents as a children’s illustrator and a political cartoonist with a representation of the famous Amnesty candle nurturing a naked, wide-eyed child who could be a girl or a boy from anywhere, whilst its flame keeps a threatening array of green-tinted, ugly creatures at bay.<\/p>\n The final spread breaks with the format of the rest of the book, offering a joyous poem by Paraguayan poet Elsa Wiezell (translated by Susan Smith Nash) that ends with the words, ‘That is why I love freedom!’\u00a0 And I love how Korean artist Choi Jung-In’s illustration here conveys every illusion of the poem without a hint of clumsy over-emphasis to unbalance the effect of the whole.\u00a0 A beautiful ending to a beautiful book!<\/p>\n Many children who read Dreams of Freedom<\/em> will feel secure in their place in the world but they may well also be aware of other children who are not so fortunate. On the one hand, Dreams of Freedom <\/em>serves as a reminder that freedom is precious and should never be taken for granted; on the other, it provides a spring board for young people both to develop and articulate their empathy with those who suffer because of a curtailment of their right to freedom, in whatever form that might be.\u00a0 It may even inspire them to action: ‘to stand up for others and to make a difference’, as Michael Morpurgo says in his Foreword; and there are a few suggestions about how to go about that, and contact details for Amnesty International, at the end of the book.<\/p>\n There is a also a short note on each writer and illustrator featured, which makes fascinating reading, as well as providing some good contextualisation. \u00a0I must just mention, for example, \u2018Freedom not to be unfairly imprisoned\u2019, with Ros Asquith’s glorious illustration of a flying wheelchair accompanying words from Armando Valladares: \u2018Wings will grow some day. On my wheelchair I will be able to fly&hell;’ This clever juxtaposition allows for thoughts to grow about different kinds of imprisonment, but being able to find out who Valladares is does also ground the quotation: ‘a Cuban artist who spent 22 years in prison and became an Amnesty prisoner of conscience. After torture, he was confined to a wheelchair for several years.’<\/p>\n I would like to say something about every one of the artists and wordsmiths featured but there just isn’t space here, and you probably feel I have said enough already! I will, however, list them below, and\u00a0I can only urge you to go out and get hold of this beautiful book!<\/p>\n And I will give the final word to\u00a0Raouf Karray’s gentle, whimsical depiction of a young man and woman holding hands and facing each other as they fly through the air together to return home, for ‘Freedom to have a home’. \u00a0Flying as a concept has always been associated with freedom and Karray\u00a0conveys perfectly the hope and yearning in\u00a0Harun Hashim al-Rashid’s words, which are so relevant today as we watch the human catastrophe in the Middle East getting heart-breakingly worse day by\u00a0day: ‘One day we will return to our homeland snug and warm in our hopes. . . Oh, heart, no matter how far the winds scatter us we will return to our homeland.’<\/p>\n Shirin Adl<\/a> (UK\/Iran) Nadia Anjuman<\/a> (Afghanistan) Find\u00a0teaching resources<\/a>\u00a0on the Amnesty International’s UK website .<\/p>\n View The Guardian’s\u00a0Gallery of spreads from the book here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read\u00a0Dreams of Freedom\u00a0<\/em>with\u00a0We Are All Born Free<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0I Have the Right to Be a Child<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\nDreams of Freedom<\/em> is a beautifully presented book pairing short, deeply salient quotations with powerful images that burst across each double-page spread, created by an international selection of award-winning illustrators.<\/p>\nMore\u2026<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mirrorswindowsdoors.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/favicon-1.png\")
Illustrations by:<\/p>\n
\nRos Asquith<\/a> (UK)
\nBarroux<\/a> (France)
\nDale Blankenaar<\/a> (South Africa)
\nGregory Christie (US)
\nChristopher Corr<\/a> (UK)
\nAlexis Deacon<\/a> (UK)
\nShane Evans (US)
\nMordicai Gerstein<\/a> (US)
\nOliver Jeffers<\/a> (UK)
\nChoi Jung-In<\/a>\u00a0(South Korea)
\nRaouf Karray<\/a> (Palestine)
\nRoger Mello (Brazil)
\nSally Morgan (Australia)
\nJackie Morris<\/a> (UK)
\nChris Riddell<\/a> (UK)
\nBirgitta Sif<\/a> (Iceland)
\nPeter S\u00eds<\/a> (Czechoslovakia\/US)
\nAntje von Stemm<\/a> (Germany)
\nJavier Zabala<\/a> (Spain)<\/p>\nWords by:<\/p>\n
\nMikhail Bakunin (Russia)
\nClare Balding<\/a> (UK)
\nthe Dalai Lama<\/a> (Tibet)
\nAli Ferzat (Syria)
\nAnatole France (France)
\nAnne Frank (Holland)
\nAung San Suu Kyi (Burma)
\nNelson Mandela (South Africa)
\nJack Mapanje (Malawi\/UK)
\nMarun Hashim al-Rashid (Palestine)
\nChief Standing Bear (Ponca Native American)
\nHarriet Tubman (US)
\nArmando Valladares<\/a> (Cuba)
\nElsa Wiezell (Paraguay)
\nMalala Yousafzai<\/a> (Pakistan)<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"http:\/\/mirrorswindowsdoors.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/rights-of-child-x3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\nDreams of Freedom: In Words and Pictures<\/em><\/strong>
edited by Janetta Otter-Barry, designed by Judith Escreet, with a Foreword by Michael \u2026<\/p>\n