A moving and ultimately hopeful look at what we hold most dear – and carry with us – when we are forced to flee our homes because of war. When the enemy bombs the library, everything burns, and only one book survives. As war rages around them, Peter and his father, alongside so many refugees, flee their home, taking with them a treasure box that holds something rarer than rubies and more precious than gold. They journey through mud and rain and long cold nights, and soon survival becomes more important than any possession. But as the years go by, Peter never forgets the treasure box, and one day he returns to find it. This moving story from celebrated author Margaret Wild is illustrated with Freya Blackwood’s subtly affecting artwork, which incorporates pages of children’s books in translation. The result is a haunting and beautiful tale of the power of stories and the resilience of the human spirit.
Margaret Wild is Australia’s leading picture book writer. She was born in Eschew, a small town in South Africa, and currently resides in Sydney, Australia.
The daughter of a painter and an architect, Freya Blackwood began drawing at a young age. She has collaborated with many wonderful authors, including Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Jan Ormerod, Roddy Doyle, and Nick Bland. Freya won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for Harry and Hopper, and her books have been honored in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards many times. Visit her at FreyaBlackwood.com.au.
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