Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre

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Resource Lists : Supporting Refugees In Early Childhood Programs

View the lists below for helpful resources on supporting refugees in early childhood programs. For a printable list please download and print the PDF.

  • Little Kids, Big Worries: Stress-busting Tips for Early Childhood Classrooms
    By Alice Sterling Honig
    Many stressors exist for children in our complex society. This book explores the issue of children’s stress and gives advice on how to recognize and influence children’s stress levels.
  • Fifty Early Childhood Strategies For Working And Communicating With Diverse Families
    By Janet Gonzalez-Mena
    A guide to developing culturally sensitive relationships with diverse families.
  • Child Health Across Cultures: The Health, Well-Being And Special Needs Of Children From Diverse Backgrounds: A Resource For Teachers And Others With An Interest In Strengthening The Health Of Children Experiencing More Than One Culture
    By Judith A. Colbert.
    A handbook for supporting children’s health and well-being inclusive of all cultures.
  • Supporting The Settlement Of Young Immigrant Children & Their Families: A Guide For Early Childhood Educators
    By Julie Dotsch.
    A guide to help caregivers ease the transition for newcomer children and their families
  • Welcoming Newcomer Children: The Settlement Of Young Immigrants And Refugees: A Resource For Teachers And Others With An Interest In Supporting Young Newcomers From Birth Through Age Eight
    By Judith A. Colbert.
    A handbook for welcoming children and their families to Canadian programs
  • The Resilience Guide: Strategies for Responding to Trauma in Refugee Children [E-book]
    By Heather Savazzi
    This guide is intended for adults working with refugee children as a support to help refugee families with young children as they cope with the effects of trauma.
  • Four Feet, Two Sandals
    By Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed.
    Two girls in a refugee camp each claim one sandal of a donated pair. Together they solve the problem of having four feet and two sandals and are reminded that friendship is what is most important.
  • The Colour Of Home
    By Mary Hoffmann.
    The story of a refugee child from Somalia who struggles to adjust to life and school in his new country
  • The Swirling Hijaab
    By Na’ima bint Robert.
    An endearing story about the way a young Muslim girl feels about the hijab, or headscarf, that her mother wears.
  • Handa’s Hen
    By Eileen Brown.
    Handa and her friend Akeyo find two fluttery butterflies round the hen house, three stripy mice under the grain store, four little lizards behind the pots . . . but where is Grandma’s black hen? Available in 21 dual language editions.
  • Welcome To The World Baby
    By Na’ima bint Robert.
    When Tariq brings in some dates to celebrate the new baby in his family, his class decides to learn how different families welcome babies into the world. Available in 26 dual language editions.
  • My Mom is a Foreigner, but not to me
    By Julianne Moore
    A foreign mom may eat, speak, and dress differently than other moms – she may wear special clothes for holidays, twist hair in strange old-fashioned braids, and cook recipes passed down from grandma. Such a mom may be different than other moms, but…she is also clearly the best.
  • Apple Pie and Onion
    By Judith Caseley
    Although she is embarrassed when her grandmother reminisces with an old friend in public, Rebecca loves her and enjoys hearing stories about her grandmother’s life in America when she first came from Russia.
  • The Two Blanket
    By Irena Kobald
    A homesick little girl who has recently moved to an unfamiliar country comfort herself by clinging to an old blanket. When she meets a new friend, the relationship helps her take her first steps into a new culture.
  • Out
    By Angela May George
    a brave little girl and her mother escape a war-torn land. On a difficult sea voyage there is little to eat, but there is abundant love and caring. Her adopted country offers a safe place to live, a new school, and supportive friends.
  • Saffron Ice Cream
    By Rashin Kheiriyeh
    Rashin is an Iranian immigrant girl living in New York, excited by her first trip to Coney Island, and fascinated by the differences in the beach customs between her native Iran and her new home – but she misses the saffron flavoured ice cream that she used to eat.
  • Where are you from?
    By Yamile Saied Mendez
    When other children and their parents keep asking a young girl where she is from, she puts the same question to her grandfather who describes the land and people from which her family originated.
  • My Name is not Refugee
    By Kate Milner
    A young boy discusses boy discusses the journey he is about to make with his mother. They will have to say goodbye to friends and loved ones, and that will be difficult. They will have to walk and walk and walk, and although they will see many new and interesting things, it will be difficult at times, too.
  • Lost and Found Cat: the True Story of KunKush’s incredible Journey
    By Doug Kuntz & Amy Shrodes
    A family travels away from their war-torn home, with their cat KunKush in tow. As the family arrives in Greece, their cat is lost but is eventually returned to them by helpful strangers.
  • Where Will I Live?
    By Rosemary A. McCarney
    This stunning photo-based picture book for younger readers looks at the thousands of children around the world who have been forced to flee war, hunger, sickness, and natural disasters – young refugees on the move with very little left except questions. The final message is that children, even with uncertain futures, are resilient and can face uncertainty with optimism.
  • The Journey
    By Francesca Sanna
    What is it like to have to leave everything behind and travel many miles to somewhere unfamiliar and strange? A mother and her two children set out on such a journey; one filled with fear of the unknown, but also great hope.