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Here Be Dragons co-curated by Cressida Cowell and Toothless - opens 13 July. Admission included with ticket to the Galleries

1001 Stories Collection

In the Sea there are Crocodiles

1001 In The Sea There Are Crocodiles
Added on 15th August 2020

Author Fabio Geda
First published 2010
Publisher Baldini & Castoldi, Milan

Identity and fairness
1001

One boy's journey from a refugee camp in Pakistan through Iran, Turkey and Greece, to Italy.

Story

Enaiatollah Akbari is left alone, aged ten, in a refugee camp in Pakistan. His mother decides he has a better chance of survival there than staying with her in Afghanistan. From the camp, he travels to Italy on a remarkable journey, working as he travels and undergoing the dangers of an illegal nomad.

Why we chose it

The story of one boy’s journey but a similar journey is undertaken everyday by thousands of people. Amnesty International has recommended that Geda’s work is used to help children understand the need for Human Rights.

Where it came from

The book is loosely based on a set of interviews Fabio Geda had with an Afghan refugee who he befriended in Italy. Geda mixes the facts of the refugee’s story with his own fictional narrative to create a powerful work of historical fiction about perseverance and endurance.

Where it went next

After being published in Geda’s native Italy, the book was subsequently published the following year in English, translated by Howard Curtis and published by David Fickling Books. This is Geda’s first book to be published in English. Books on Tape also released an audiobook version of the story. It has since been translated into over 30 languages.

Associated stories

There are a growing number of books about the global refugee crisis. Winners of the Amnesty Internation CILIP prize include the novel The Bone Sparrow by Zena Fraillon and picture book The Journey by Francesca Sanna.

Other picture books include, My Name is not Refugee by Kate Milner and The Day War Came by Nicola Davies and Rebecca Cobb.

Books for older children include The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf, Oranges in No Man’s Land and Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird and Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman.

Books for teenagers include The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo, Hidden by Miriam Halanmy, and graphic novels Alpha: Abidjan to Gare du Nord by Bessora & Barroux, translated by Sarah Ardinzzone and Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigan.

Added on 15th August 2020

Author Fabio Geda
First published 2010
Publisher Baldini & Castoldi, Milan

Identity and fairness
1001