This picturebook is one of several in the corpus that deal with the issue of the migrant crisis. The others are: Mediterraneo [The Mediterranean], Orizzonti [Horizons] and Meidän piti lähteä [We had to Leave]. Unlike the other examples of this subsection, Migrando is a reversible, two-sided picturebook. Each side of the picturebook reveals a different narrative depiction of migration from violence to a place of safety. The two narratives create a dialogue between past and present, East and West, raising an important topic for discussion. Who is the migrant, and who is the citizen? Who is homeless and who is home? The first side of the picturebook details the migration of Spanish citizens to Argentina during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. The second side of the picturebook conjures up a beach scene on the shores of contemporary Europe – the illusion of leisure is shattered by the arrival of a boat packed with migrants from the global south. The connection between the two narratives is cleverly revealed through the use of the wordless form. Attentive readers will spot that the first story is revealed to the granddaughter of an original Spanish refugee. The granddaughter, flying home, spots the migrant ship on the sea from the window of the plane as she ponders her grandmother’s tale. In this way, the picturebook skilfully represents migration as an inherent to Europe and its history.
