Wherever we are and whether or not we’re able to travel, books are our passport to other worlds.

This Simple Act invites you to pick a book or short story to read alone, with friends or at a book club. Journey through its pages and, if you like where it takes you, pass it on or recommend to a friend.

If you’re up for spreading the word even more widely, why not write a book review and share it online.

Whatever you do, let us know what you’ve read and where it took you by sharing on social media using #ReadaBook and #SimpleActs.

If your social media post includes images or names of other people, make sure you get permission first, including from parents/ guardians of anyone under 18.

Waterstones’ Recommendations for Refugee Week 2021

A range of reading that raises awareness of the experience of refugees, including thought-provoking true stories, original fiction and inspirational books for children.

See also Waterstone’s blog post ‘I Am a Refugee’: The Many Voices of Refugee Experience’, in which writers share how their own journeys as refugees or asylum-seekers have shaped their writing.

More  Books for Children & Young People

Just Like You
Jo Loring-Fisher, 2+

“I have one nose, two eyes and two ears.
My feet can take me a long, long way.
Sometimes I am very happy and at other times so sad. But when I’m cuddled I feel cosy….”

One little girl is going on a journey, but wherever she is in the world, she is just like you.

 

 

Swallow’s Kiss
Sita Brahmachari and Jane Ray, 7+

When Blessing finds a lost bag of paper birds she follows a trail of hopes and wishes to the community who made them, in this lyrical, free-verse tale about kindness and friendship. Available to pre-order and released 24 June.

 

 

 

On the Move: Poems about Migration
Michael Rosen, 9+

“What you leave behind
Won’t leave your mind.
But home is where you find it.
Home is where you find it.”

Michael Rosen and Sir Quentin Blake join forces for a landmark collection focusing on migration and displacement.

 

Books about Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Younger Children), BookTrust

Books about Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Older Children), BookTrust

More Books for Adults

Pride and Prejudice: The best books on the refugee experience – writer Dina Nayeri shares her recommendations in PopChange’s Library of New Narratives

Books about exile for adults, list by Refugee Week

The Refugee Week Imagine anthology features Mohsin Hamid, Edmund de Waal, Dina Nayeri and more alongside new voices  

Read a Book is one of eight Simple Acts you can do for Refugee Week 2021. To view them all, visit the Simple Acts page.