This insightful and timely middle-grade nonfiction guide explores how geographical and political boundaries shape our world. The book expertly traces the evolution of these lines from natural dividers like mountains and rivers to complex modern boundaries like airspace, checkpoint zones, and sea territories. The warm, softly textured hand-drawn illustrations enrich this journey by bringing intricate global concepts to life with delicate linework and layered color washes. The book includes a glossary, index, and a resource page to help young readers expand their vocabulary and research skills.
Title: Borders: Understanding The Lines That Unite And Separate Us
Author: Karim Ressouni-Demigneaux
Illustrator: Karine Maincort
Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press
Copyright: 2026
Original Language: French
Translator: Johanna McCalmont
Original Title: Frontieres
Original Publisher: Kilowatt editions
Original Copyright: 2024
ISBN: 979 8985849493
Hardcover pages: 72
Age range: 8-12
Genre: Nonfiction, Information book, Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: French
Illustrator’s ethnicity: French
Subjects: Cities, Countries, Culture, Geography, History, Maps, Movement, Natural features
Narrated by a young refugee, this beautiful and realistic picture book tells about having to leave home and the healing power of hope. The girl and her mother used to live in an apartment with a star-shaped lamp in their window. In their new country, everything is different – the language, their apartment, and the food. One day, the mother brings home art supplies so that they can make a cardboard star just like the one they had back home. That helps to make their new place feel a little more like home. The penultimate page shows the girl with a new friend, both carrying their musical instruments. The mostly blue and yellow illustrations were created with hand drawn contours and Photoshop. An author’s note explains that the book was inspired by Desnitskaya’s experience leaving Russia after the start of the Ukraine War. It is the author’s hope that his book can help children from different countries who have lost their homes to start loving the place where they were forced to be. 
Set in 1980s Vietnam, Tho and his best friend, Lam, love cricket fighting, and soccer, but there is fear in his village that twelve-year-old boys, like them, will be conscripted into the Communist army. People are trying to leave Vietnam and move to safer countries. One day, Lam and his brother disappear. Tho’s family sells their furniture to make money to send Tho and his brother, Vu, away. Vu leaves first and a year later Tho boards a small boat to escape. He stows away on a pirate boat, crosses the South China Sea, and eventually gets to a refugee camp in Palawon in the Philippines, where he stays for six months. Finally, a Canadian elementary school teacher adopts him and he flies to his new home in Toronto. This harrowing story is based on true events in the author’s life. A map, a pronunciation guide, an afterword, and a brief recent history of Vietnam further enhance Tho’s intense account of his journey. 
After her parents’ divorce, ten-year-old Electra (Ellie) moves to a new town with her mother and older brother. She is a spunky and stubborn girl who wants to make friends at her new school. Unfortunately, all of her new classmates are into sports and her mother pushes her to join a sports team. She is clumsy, fails at every sport, and consequently gets bullied. One night she attends a ballet performance with her family and discovers that what she really wants to do is dance. A new boy at school helps her to realize her dream. This positive graphic novel for middle graders is filled with humor and energetic cartoon illustrations that will make young readers smile. mjw
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