Such a heartbreaking story and a very relevant one in the current situation.War only destroys not just countries and places but most importantly it breaks humans.Adnan is a young boy whose life is destroyed by war and he trying to piece it together for his mother. A beautiful,heartfelt story with amazing illustrations.

Such a powerful book about Adnan, a young Syrian refugee who lost everything in the war, including his father and sister. Relocated now to the UK, he nearly loses his mother too to PTSD and depression. Adnan's bright spirit and love overcome all as he uses his creativity to bring his mother out of the depths of despond.

The haunting dark illustrations in the first part of the book break through to more joyful scenes as Adnan and his mother find a new purpose and a new home.

Syrian artist Diala Brisly, a former refugee herself, infuses this important short story for children 5-8 with the truth of her own experiences. ADNAN the book is a companion to the short same-named award-winning film; both should be in every school and public library in the land!

Adnan is an emotionally-charged children's book about a little boy helping his mother remember their previous life. It's moving with such an eerie atmosphere in all of the illustrations. A poignant story about the heartaches refugees go through when starting over in a new country.

I loved the little shared perspective on this topic of mental health. As a person whose parent struggles with a mental health illness, I understand this firsthand. I love that space is being made this topic. Even through their struggles, little Adnan persisted on finding a way to help his mommy remember. I love his fierce determination and gentleness towards his mother. This was such a moving read!

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Adnan: The Boy Who Helped His Mommy Remember is a heartfelt story about a young boy called Adnan who longs for his mummy to reconnect with him and life in general. Adnans mummy has been in a deep depression since fleeing their home country due to war and conflict. She lost her other child and husband, leaving the family torn in half. Adnan recreates the memories of this time and events using household items to help his mother remember and see how much he loves her and needs her. He won't give up until she comes back to him and makes a special book dedicated to helping her. When his mummy finds the book, she sees how much her little boy needs her, and it brings her hope and realisation and helps bring her through her PTSD and depression.
This books illustrations are so powerful and captivating and really pull at your heart and soul. This brings to light the trauma and suffering refugees face and the ordeal they go through to live a free life we all take for granted.

Reasonable effort, but not the pleasurable read exactly. A kid keeps recreating his recent past for his mother, worried that she has clammed up and entered a lifeless state because she cannot remember key things. The issue is, of course, the pair are refugees, and she'd probably rather forget a heck of a lot, so it's probably not the best if he rebuilds in the living room their home buildings, prior to the bombing, or recreates the sea voyage when he nearly drowned, or re-enacts the silent threat and helpless panic of the overnight drives to safety. However, if the mother is just a beat away from remembering the power, prospect, creativity and compassion in the lad, then it actually is a very good thing indeed. People with a vested interest in getting the refugee story under the eyes of children will find little to fault here. For me its clever twist still didn't turn this into something getting a personal recommendation.

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and illustrators for this arc. This is a poignant, beautiful story that introduces children to the complexity refugees face as they try to heal and start anew. Definitely a wonderful addition to any classroom.

I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form.

Adnan: The Boy Who Helped His Mommy Remember, by Mark Arrigo and Steven Chatterton, and Illustrated by Diana Brisly, is a children’s story about a boy who, after escaping a war finding a refuge in a strange place, is trying to help his mother remember him. From using “trash” found around the city, to recreating some of the happiest and most heartbreaking memories from objects in house, Adnan perseveres, even if it may seem hopeless.

I loved how all encompassing Adnan’s mother was to him. After all, when you’re a child, most of the time, your parents are the ones you lean on to provide safety. Of course, this can be any caretaker, but growing up, you learn to lean on the people around you. So for him to take on this role when he’s this young demonstrates a level of maturity that most people will never know.

Moreover, I enjoy how, in the beginning, the illustrations are faded, as though Adnan doesn’t care about the outside world around him, just as long as his mother is okay. The more he interacts with her, regardless of whether or not she remembers, becomes more vibrant. It’s like nothing exists outside of her. It begs the question what would’ve happened had his mother refused to leave her depression, had he had to fend for himself as so many other children have done.

A beautiful, moving, heartbreaking story. Beautifully illustrated by Syrian artist Diala Brisly who draws on her own experiences of being a refugee.

This was a heartwarming story about a young boy trying to help his mother remember and I loved it, it's definitely best to go into it knowing little other than that as it's short enough that it won't impact on your enjoyment to go in blindly. I feel as though it is a good introduction to young children to the conflicts going on in the world today with a stunning watercolour art style

I was sent this e-Arc on Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What an emotional and thought provoking story of the journey of Adnan and his Mother as they flee their home country for safety. Once safe Adnan begins another journey to try and make his Mother remember everything that happened so that they can try to be happy together again.

The story has been written in such a way as to make it understandable for young children. It introduces them to a perilous journey that too many families are forced to make in order to flee war torn countries to find safety. It also shows the lasting impact that trauma can have.

This is such an important book for children to read or have read to them, especially in this current climate. I would recommend reading it with your child so you can answer any questions they may have or support them in understanding the tough subject matter.

4★
“Sometimes, when something sad happens, people can push the memory far away because it hurst so much”.

Adnan is a young refugee whose mother is so traumatised she can’t get out of bed.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“That’s why Mommy doesn’t remember.”

Adnan has gathered a wagon-load of things people have thrown away, and he’s written up a ‘Save Mommy Plan’. He is full of ideas to recreate some of their trip to jog her memory. He thinks he needs to do this to help her.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“ ‘I have a plan and it’s going to work. Then Mommy won’t be sad. Then we can be happy again.’”

Adnan can’t wait to show off their old city.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“ ‘Look, Mommy, this was our home.
This was my grandparents’ house. We visited every Sunday.
This was Dad’s store. He fixed computers.
This was where my sister, Amena, and I went to school.”

I’m not sharing the heartbreaking picture where he has drawn the family on two separate pieces of paper. His buildings have all fallen flat from the bombs, and his father and sister are on a piece of paper he holds high in the air, saying “ ‘That’s when four became two. That’s when you said we had to run.’”

Mommy still looks dazed, so he tries another tack. He takes a long scarf, stretches it over the furniture, and turns on a fan to recreate the wind over the ocean. They are escaping! It’s a rough sea and he falls into the ocean.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“ ‘You pulled me out of the water. You saved my life, Mommy!’”

He’s tried everything he can think of, and when he goes to sleep, he dreams of happier times when his mother used to sing to him at home.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“ ‘I dream of playing with Mommy. I dream of riding my bicycle. I dream that one day these won’t be dreams.’”

He is determined to show her how they got to their new home and makes a path through their new home, pretending to go by the various waypoints to explain where they are now.

Finally, his mother finds his book and realises how hard he has worked.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“ ‘My little Adnan. He did all this for me.’”

Of course he did, just as she protected him through the harrowing ordeal they both went through to get to their new home, because they love each other.

“‘Now I remember.’”

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:]
“Sometimes when you love someone enough, you can reach down into their sadness and pull them back.”

When I began reading this, I was frankly startled to see this little boy recreating the bombing of their home and the loss of their family. It seemed as if it would be a terrible shock rather than helpful. But I realise he thinks she forgot and that’s why she’s unhappy in their new home.

It dawns on her that her son remembers all of this, yet still loves her and wants her to be happy with him in their new home . That helps her begin her recovery.

This was a short, award-winaning film before it became a picture book, which is why I know that Syria and the UK are the countries referred to. The book itself makes it more universal, which I think is a good thing. We have refugees all over the world who have lost families and homes. This is a good way to share that message and encourage us to help them recover, too.

There are photos and a long discussion at the end of the book for adults, with more information about refugees. They end by saying:

“Love can change lives.
We can all Choose Love.”

This is a link to information about the film
https://www.adnanshortfilm.com/

And this is to a short preview for the film.
https://vimeo.com/425203037

Thanks to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for the copy for review.

This book is amazing and it left me with a tear in my eye. It's a very beautiful, very powerful and very important story to tell and for children to learn from. I highly recommend reading this book and talking about this topic with kids!

Thoughts:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a sweet but quite heartbreaking book from a more deep perspective. The illustrations are beautiful and Adnan is able to show us what they went through while having to flee their home and losing his father and sibling without being too intense so that it is suitable to explain the complex issue to younger readers. I appreciated the choose love page at the end to teach us as adults the more complex natures and showing an organisation that helps if we want to do something to help other children like Adnan.

Favourite Quote:
"Sometimes, things get thrown away when they have no purpose. But we found a new home a new purpose."

What a poignant story that is reflective of so many children and their parents across the world. The story of Adnan is simple but heartbreaking. My heart broke for his mom but also for Adnan who is trying to piece her back together. I always feel so much for children who are forced to grow up too quickly.

The illustrations in this story completely enhance the story, in fact they are of upmost importance to the story development. It was lovely to see illustrations of the relationship between Adnan and his mum. The use of colour across the book was fantastic.

I would love to have this book available to the pupils in my classroom who have had to flee their home country. I also believe that it is a book that could help develop empathy among their peers.

A very moving tale of Adnan who is desperate to stir his depressed mother back into life. The fact it falls on a little boy’s shoulders- a boy who has already endured so much- is heart-wrenching. It is no wonder his mother is despairing as Adnan recounts their journey, and all its perils, to their new home.

There are so many displaced people, with horrific stories to tell and huge trauma. In Adnan, a spotlight is shone on one family and their desperate journey- by personalising the story, it might hit home harder with some people.

I liked the illustrations a lot and the use of colour particularly the switch to vibrant colours to mark the brighter days ahead.

This was absolutely heartbreaking but suffused with hope about finding the strength to overcome deep sadness and recover. An ideal book to share with pupils who are learning about the struggles of refugees to teach them about empathy and emotions.

Furthermore I found the illustrations incredible powerful as they conveyed the range of emotions so well…Positively stunning! 🤩

Heartfelt, beautiful story.
I think stories like this are a good way to stop and remember that children do endure heartache and trauma as well, regardless of what older generations think.

Adnan is the devastating story of a little boy and his mother who are refugees who lost everything. This one was hard for me, as I have a background working in mental health and I have small children of my own. The idea that the child bears the weight of the mother and his own trauma is a bit much for me to handle, but I know it is reality. An important story for a lot of kids in this world. The illustrations were lovely, but the people were a bit scary looking.

Sometimes items that are in the news; unsettling scenes, upsetting pictures and daily headlines of terror and innocent loss of life, fade from our normal responses. We feel helpless, personally unable to make a difference, to stop the killing, the indiscriminate destruction of lives, homes and communities.

A book such as this has so much value. It helps one to address any compassion fatigue and empathetical blindness. Without the need for emotive words and political dogma it tells a simple story.

You cannot help to be moved by the simplicity of the unfolding story and the stark and expressive illustrations.

Above all, you will be moved. You may well feel just as useless to change the plight of refugees but you will find your heart. It still pumps and is filled with compassion.

Hopelessness is replaced by hope.
Appreciation grows for those working in this field and an admiration for those struggling to find security and safety again.

We should also see that trauma has a debilitating hold on those who survive and mental health wellbeing isn’t like a switch.

I am grateful for those who work with refugees and brought this book together. It is a story that needs to be told and amid all the inhumanity of war and hatred it is good to be reminded of one’s own human nature.