Anisa’s Alphabet is a moving depiction of how a young girl’s life is desolated by war. Told alphabetically in rhyming text, we follow Anisa’s perilous journey from a free person to a stateless refugee. The atmospheric illustrations portray an ominous world but in the darkest misery her bright drawings show her hope and yearning for a better life. Readers will be disquieted by her family’s plight and loss of freedom; they are victims of their homeland’s conflict and hostilities but do not find a welcoming world outside it.

Let’s hope our young readers learn empathy from important stories such as Anisa’s. For ages 7+.

Alexa Dretzke is the assistant manager and children’s book buyer at Readings Hawthorn.