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A New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books 2022

“A nuanced representation of belonging and citizenship that will ring true for many whose sense of home has never been absolute.”
The Horn Book

Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home

Written by Zahra Marwan
Illustrated by Zahra Marwan
Published by Bloomsbury USA

Zahra lives in a beautiful place where the desert reaches all the way to the sea and one hundred butterflies always fill the sky. When Baba and Mama tell her that their family is no longer welcome here and they must leave, Zahra wonders if she will ever feel at home again—and what about the people she will leave behind? But when she and her family arrive in a new desert, she’s surprised to find magic all around her. Home might not be as far away as she thought it would be.

With spare, moving text and vivid artwork, Zahra Marwan tells the true story of her and her family’s immigration from Kuwait, where they were considered stateless, to New Mexico, where together they made a new home.

Primary ISBN: 9781547606511
Available As: Hardcover, eBook
Picture Book, Age 05 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , ,

Setting: Kuwait, USA (New Mexico)

Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: Immigrant

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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Article

Always Leaving: A Photo Essay by Zahra Marwan