Mexique: A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War (Stories from Latin America) by María José Ferrada

Mexique: A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War (Stories from Latin America) Reviews

• 
  Josh Olds

  I’ve started to write this paragraph three times and each time end up erasing it out of fear that I’ve not captured the essence of this book. Mexique is a children’s book, but it’s more than that. Usually, children’s books are brightly-colored light-hearted affairs with catchy rhymes and fun illustrations. They are not usually poetic descriptions of the plight of early twentieth century child refugees.
  
  Until I read this book, I was unaware of the story of the Mexique, a ship that fled the Spanish Civil War with over four hundred children in tow. They were only supposed to stay in Morelia, Mexico for a few months. Until the war was over. Until things settled down. But when things settled down, a dictator was in power. Francisco Franco had taken over. It was more dangerous than ever. They could not return. And the Children of Morelia became forever exiled from their homes.
  
  Mexique is not a happy story. Written by Maria Jose Ferrada and translated by Elisa Amado, its focus is the journey from Spain to Mexico. Ferrada gives a voice to the children: I can’t really remember where it is we are going, but it is far. She writes from their perspective of the war they are fleeing: War is a very loud noise. War is a huge hand that shakes you and throws you onto a ship.
  
  Ana Penyas provides illustrations that are as muted, cacophonic, and jarring as the story. The illustrated children are given faces more realistic than their bodies, forcing readers to acknowledge that these children aren’t faceless refugees, but children with expressions, texture, and personality. Black, white, gray, and dashes of drab red are her only palette, a dreary rainbow that accurately captures the hopefulness and despair in the book.
  
  Mexique is important because it tells an unknown story. It’s important because it points us toward the unknown stories of our times. It humanizes the refugee crisis of today, highlighting the separation of families, the loss of identity, the loss of culture. The book ends: We tell the story of one ship, knowing that there is no registry of all those who cross the sea, every day, seeking that basic human right: a life without fear.
  
  It is about 1937.
  
  It is about 2020.
  
  It is about the refugee crisis then.
  
  About the refugee crisis now.
  
  It is the beginning of many conversations about the lives of displaced people and what we can do as individuals, churches, communities, and nations. Mexique is more than a children’s book. It’s a work of art.
• 
  Jon Nakapalau

  456 Spanish boys and girls were put on a ship to Mexico in 1937 to escape the Spanish civil war - many would never return. This haunting tale reveals the true cost of war - so often paid by those who had no role or voice in the matter.
• 
  Leopoldo

  Cada página de este libro me sacó por lo menos un par de lágrimas. María José Ferrada es una poeta excepcional.
• 
  Rebecca

  Booklist summarizes the plot well: "In commemoration of a lesser-known predecessor to WWII’s Kindertransport, this atmospheric import recalls a 1937 voyage in which the titular ship carried 456 children of Spanish Republicans to safety in Mexico for, supposedly, a brief stay."
  
  But the story itself is full of emotion. Don't miss the Afterword which gives important background to this little-known piece of history:
  
  "We tell the story of one ship, knowing that there is no registry of all those who cross the sea, every day, seeking that basic human right: a life without fear."
  
  Illustrations by Ana Penyas are dark and expressive, sometimes appearing to include shades of the actual children's faces from photographs.
• 
  Azul

  maría josé ferrada tiene dos lobos dentro de ella: el chill, con poesía chiquita y el jarcor, con palabras que te patean en el suelo.
  
  este es jarcor.
  
  que talento para contar cosas tan tristes de forma tan bella. se me apretó el corazón pensando en estos niños que escapaban de una guerra, pero que en palabras de la autora: traían también la guerra en sus maletas.
• 
  Sunday

  NCTE Notable Poetry Book 2021
  
  In 1937, 456 Spanish boys and girls were put on a ship to Mexico. Their parents were fighting in the Spanish civil war for the right to represent themselves in a democracy (as opposed to being ruled by a monarch). Mexico agreed to take care of the children for 3-4 months, until Spain felt safe again. The monarch won and a few months later WWII began. The children never came home.
  
  Written in sparse text from the perspective of one child on this journey with haunting illustrations that tell so much more than the story, this is a powerful book.
  
  I'd never heard this story but as I read it, I immediately started thinking about children sent to the UK and the states during the Jewish Holocaust, children crossing the U.S. border on their own right now, asylum seeking families boarding inflatable rafts to reach the coast of Greece, and on and on.
  
  If I used this with an age 7-10 audience (listed by publisher), I'd start by sharing the illustrations and asking, "What do you notice?" I'd definitely use this with 4th and up. In addition to just learning abou the Spanish Civil War, this could easily be used as a launch for thinking about perspective, about researching particular issues involving refugees. This title will definitely broaden a student's world and understanding of the world.
  
  With older students, PAIR THIS TEXT WITH "We Had to Be Brave" (Hopkinson, 2020).
• 
  Vera Godley

  Based on a true story, this is a unique book. Artistically stark and dreary, the illustrations are truly appropriate for the brutal reality and darkly scary experience of the child-refugee story portrayed.
  
  I was not aware of the boatload of children sent to Mexico during the Spanish Civil War. I was barely aware that Spain had a civil war. So this was an eye-opener for me.
  
  War is terrible. Children who have to be around war have terrible life. Even trying to escape a war as a refugee is a terrible time and experience. This book aptly tells the children's story in sparse text and dark illustrations.
  
  I recommend.
  
  I was provided a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
• 
  Kate

  A haunting, poignant picture book for older readers, this is an unfamiliar part of history -- at least to me. I know about Kindertransport and children in London evacuated to the countryside, but I know very little about the Spanish Civil War and absolutely nothing about children sent to the safety of Mexico. But it is also a story of many refugee children, leaving family, friends and everything familiar. Hoping to return home but never to see it--or family--again. The illustrations were unique. The artist based the images on photographs and it appears incorporated pieces of photos in places. The last image of people standing around small dead people is ominous and perhaps is to speak to General Franco's regime that followed the war.
• 
  Kristen

  This last sentence in the Afterword really got me: "We tell the story of one ship, knowing that there is no registry of all those who cross the sea, every day, seeking that basic human right: a life without fear."
• 
  Kelsey Whipple

  This picture book was published in 2020 and is the winner of Outstanding International Books Award. It explores quite a few themes such as war, refugee/immigration, history, and about Hispanic culture and the impact of war on children. It would be great to put into an immigration tech set.
  
• 
  Panda Incognito

  This nonfiction picture book tells about the little-known historical event of children whose parents sent them to Mexico on a boat to escape the Spanish Civil War. The war lasted much longer than anyone had anticipated, with WWII on its heels, and the children ended up staying in Mexico long-term. It's an interesting story with implications for today, but I wasn't especially impressed with the execution of the idea, which covers the boat ride and arrival.
  
  The text comes from the perspective of the children, but it is frequently vague, poetic, and abstract in a way that doesn't fit with how a child would describe their circumstances. Sometimes, the metaphorical language works: "War is a very loud noise. War is a huge hand that shakes you and throws you onto a ship." However, at other times, the figurative prose is so vague and overly poetic that I had to read lines three or four times to fully understand them.
  
  Some of this is my problem, because I am a very literal person who struggles with indirect communication in both books and social situations. However, the text style is in an adult voice, with an adult's poetic and abstract thought, and I don't think that children will understand or connect with this much better than I did. "The Republic is a house. The Republic is a raised fist. A bird." So much of this is nothing that a child would ever say or think of, and it all feels unnatural.
  
  On a similar note, even though the charcoal gray illustrations capture the mood well, the monochromatic color palette is unlikely to appeal to young readers, and many of the children's faces look distorted. As the author's note explains, the faces are often based on real children's photographs associated with this historical event, but on some of the pages, the proportions of the kids' heads and features are unnatural and look strange.
  
  I would recommend this to adults who enjoy poetic, artistic children's books about important social issues. This could also be helpful in a classroom setting, where a teacher is prepared to dive into figurative language and what the majority of the text even means. However, this isn't something that I would want to share with a child, since some of it doesn't even make sense to me. It's unlikely that children would connect with this, and this is primarily an art piece for adults.
• 
  Tasha

  In a true story, over 400 children fled the violence of the Spanish Civil War. They were put on a boat and sent to Morelia, Mexico in 1937. Their families expected only to be separated from them for a few months, like an extended summer vacation, nothing more. Told from the point of view of one of the children, this book shows their time aboard the boat to their arrival in Mexico. The war was a hand that shook their lives apart, separated them and sent them adrift. But there were other hands too, hands of the older children who took care of the little ones. Not all of the older children were kind, sometimes stealing from the little kids. They arrived in Mexico, bringing the impact of the war with them, heading unknowingly into permanent exile.
  
  Ferrada’s text is poetic and haunting. She writes of the hope of when the children embark, the bitter choice that their parents had to make in sending them to safety. She writes of the time aboard ship, of games played and small wars fought. She writes of long lonely nights at sea until the waving crowds welcome them to Mexico. The story stops there, continued in an afterword the explains what happened to the “Children of Morelia” and what history had in store for them.
  
  The illustrations are just as haunting as the text. Done in a limited color palette with often jagged lines of ship railings and waves, they are sharp and unsettling. Showing the somber farewells, the crowds of children, they are sorrowful and foretell the longer refugee story ahead.
  
  Somber, beautiful and timely. Appropriate for ages 5-7.
• 
  Erin

  After the story, is this note: "This book is based on extensive research and interviews, and the images in this book are based on photographs..." I wanted that information so badly. The picture book was a teaser full of fascinating tidbits, but WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE KIDS!?
  
  The illustrations are dark and gloomy, matching the severity of the historical circumstances. Over 400 children were evacuated from Spain as a consequence of civil war... and then world war... and then the complex difficulties of reuniting refugee children with their parents. The story follows these children across the ocean from France to Mexico in a poetic, dramatic fashion, echoing the realities for refugee children and families across times and place. It manages to be both a highly specific story and a universal one.
• 
  Jennifer Miera

  "War is a very loud noise. War is a huge hand that shakes you and throws you onto a ship." A heartbreaking story of 456 children of Spanish Republican parents sent from Spain (via France) to Mexico to flee the Spanish Civil War. Travelling without their parents and resettling for "3 - 4 months" in Morelia, Michoacan. The Spanish Republic lost the civil war and many of the parents were imprisoned or worse. As conditions worsened in Spain, the children were left in Mexico. No one is sure what happened to them, but it is assumed they found a way to settle in Mexico and live "a normal life."
  Dedication of Mexique: "We tell the story of one ship, knowing that there is no registry of all those who cross the sea, every day, seeking that basic human right: a life without fear."
• 
  Salamah

  This a sad and moving story about an incident I knew nothing about. In 1937 parents from Spain but their children on a ship that sailed to Mexico so that their children would survive the Spanish War. I did not like the illustrations. The illustrator took real images of the children and then superimposed them on drawings but it gave me a creepy feel. However, I am appreciative that the author and illustrator told this story. This book allows for deep discussion about human rights with elementary school and middle school students.
• 
  Edward Sullivan

  A poignant, hauntingly illustrated story about four hundred children who sailed for Morelia, Mexico in 1937 to flee the violence of the Spanish Civil War. With home unsafe and Mexico welcoming refugees by the thousands, each child packed a suitcase and boarded the Mexique, expecting to return home in a few months. With Franco's victory, however, the children's temporary exile became permanent. A little-known true story told from the perspective of one child on this journey in a sparse verse text. Originally published in Mexico.
• 
  Ana González

  Este libro fue un gran descubrimiento.
  1) es una parte de la historia que no sabía que existía y parte es en México.
  2) María José Ferrada fue una revelación.
  3) AAAMO el trabajo de Ana Penyas y quiero todos los libros que ella ilustra (hasta es posible que se esté volviendo mi favorita).
  
  
  Pero sí, justo uno de los libros que más me impactó y que toman un lugar importante en los libros que leí este año.
• 
  Erin *BookDragon_Library*

  Here is another slice of history that was unknown to me. I think people in general are familiar with Kindetransport and stories of Jewish children being evacuated for safety prior to WW2 and during but I had no idea that 456 Spanish children were sent to Mexico (and left there) in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The were put on a ship without their parents and landed in Veracruz and were then transported to Morelia, Michoacán,Mexico where the government cared for them until 1948. They were left there because Francisco Franco won the war and started capturing and killing Republicans who had opposed him. Then WW2 started so parents decided to leave children in Mexico.
  
  The illustrations are mostly black and white with children (and some adults) having peach colored faces, arms and legs, and then an occasional red piece of clothing. I couldn’t figure out a significance to the characters with colored clothing.
  
  As a parent, reading stories like this about sending your children away and NOT going after them tells me so much about the difficult time in history. I know there are parents now who are willing to risk danger to give their kids a better life and get them in to one country and out of another no matter the cost. The story in this book could be easily linked to Kindertransport books and also the Life on the Border picture book that recently came out about children in detention facilities on the border of Mexico.
  
  
  Notes: Refugee children, Spanish civil war, 2020, discussion guide available
  www.eerdmans.com/young readers
  
  Published in Mexico 2018: Mexique: El nombre del barco
• 
  Anastasia Tuckness

  Summary pasted in from goodreads:
  
  "On May 27, 1937, over four hundred children sailed for Morelia, Mexico, fleeing the violence of the Spanish Civil War. Home was no longer safe, and Mexico was welcoming refugees by the thousands. Each child packed a suitcase and boarded the Mexique, expecting to return home in a few months. This was just a short trip, an extra-long summer vacation, they thought. But the war did not end in a few months, and the children stayed, waiting and wondering, in Mexico. When the war finally ended, a dictator—the Fascist Francisco Franco—ruled Spain. Home was even more dangerous than before. "
  
  Although the events in this book happened a long time ago, they are very relevant as families are still making hard decisions with the goal of keeping their children safe. Detailed pictures and small details in the text make the story very real yet child-appropriate.
• 
  Ashlyn DeBoever

  This fictional picture book with a 2018 copywrite that won the Outstanding International Books Award is told from a child’s perspective of children seeking refuge from the Spanish Civil War. The setting takes place in the late 1930s where 456 children were crammed on a boat traveling from Bordeaux, France to Mexico. The disparities of children getting separated from their families without knowing where they will go is portrayed along with some of the hardships they endured. In my classroom, this book could be used to cover topics such as immigration and seeking refuge which I like to address the social-emotional benefit of my students.
• 
  Erica

  A brief story about the evacuation of children from the Spanish Civil War in 1937, by ship from Spain to Mexico, then by train to Morelio, illustrated with dramatic, heart-wrenching clarity.
  
  The charcoal illustrations with an occasional red or pink detail show stunned children trying to cope with the immense loss of of their parents, homes, and daily lives for an indefinite period, to escape the war that brought bombs and starvation.
  
  Picture books for older readers have a limited audience, but this is still worth having and reading to help young people understand the history.
• 
  Jo Oehrlein

  We talk of children sent away in wars, but I didn't know about these children sent away from the Spanish Civil War, who were sent so far away (Mexico) and whose parents could never reclaim them due to war, governmental punishment, and famine.
  
  It would have been hard to be the crew on a ship of 456 children.
  
  I wonder what happened to these 3rd culture children who belonged no where?
  
  And thanks to the Mexico government for helping support them from 1937 - 1948.
• 
  Shannon (That's So Poe)

  I had never heard of the children of the Mexique before, so this was a fascinating picture book, especially because the illustrations were drawn on top of photos from the actual historical event/period. The story itself is very approachable for a young audience (just about the children going on this trip away from their parents and home), and the info in the back is excellent for adults interested in knowing the history.
  
  Content Warnings:
  war, family separation
• 
  Amy

  Having no background knowledge of the event that prompted this book, I felt a little lost reading it. I wish the epilogue at the end had actually been a foreword at the beginning to help set the stage for the sparse, poetic text. I was riveted by the story told in the epilogue but didn't connect with the actual book. I didn't care for the illustrations either.
• 
  superawesomekt

  The illustrations are quite spectacular, but the text and the context were difficult for me to understand. The note at the end answered my questions, but I wish more had been addressed in the book itself. Very sensitive children will need a lot of support, as this is a true story of families experiencing permanent separation.
• 
  Hailey Dehaven

  This book is a great book for 3rd to 7th grade students to learning about what immigration looks like for some people in the world. This could also be a mentor text when a lesson includes topics of immigration. Some students could see similarities with their own families or about other immigrants in the United States.
  
• 
  Samantta S.

  El trabajo de la escritora y de la ilustradora es muy importante para entrar de lleno en la historia.
  
  Ferrada nos envuelve con su narración poética, las ilustraciones muestran la belleza del mar, el dolor de la niñez al despedirse de su familia, la incertidumbre de vivir en un lugar lejos de casa y perder amistades en el camino.
  
  Es corto pero muy poderoso su mensaje.
  
  💓