30/08/2017 Aliens, magic, fairies among Syrian childrens tales | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

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Aliens, magic, fairies among Syrian childrens

tales

I n t h i s p h o t o t a k e n o n T h u r s d a y, M a y 1 4 , 2 0 1 5 M o h a m e d , s e c o n d l e f t , h i s s o n M o s a b , l e f t ,

and Syrian Derkam, second right, with his Iraqi wife sit in a hotel, in the northern Greek

port city of Thessaloniki. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Aug. 08, 2017 | 12:14 AM

Matthew Ponsford | Reuters

LONDON: In the fairy tale The Travelling Princess, the heroine is granted one wish:

to travel through foreign lands, meet new friends and share her riches with the

people she meets. At the end of her journey, Princess Amira gives up her crown, and

makes her home in Greece among the families of refugees who have fled Syrias 6-

year-old war, helping children to find lost parents and one day return to the lives they

have left behind.

The story is one of eight tales in a collection of modern myths and fables invented by

Syrian and Kurdish children currently living in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Brazilian journalist Debora de Pina Castiglione and her sister, illustrator Beatriz,

recorded the stories and worked with designers and translators to create a book now

sold in 11 languages throughout Europe.

Travelling Tales aims to encourage communication between young refugees and

others children, through the universal language of myth and wild imagination, Beatriz

said. The stories created by the children are super happy, and full of creativity and

adventure, and really funny.

Beatriz, one of five illustrators to contribute to the book, said the sisters wanted to

give children and their parents a chance to talk about the war and refugee crises.

But the book is above all an expression of childhood fun that should allow readers in

communities hosting refugees to see the authors not as victims but as children, who

share their excitement and fantastical imagination, she added.

Among the stories, readers find a plucky duck who lives in a chocolate house, a king

who gets lessons in kindness from his children, and a battle between aliens and

chickens for earths last remaining eggs.

Theres a lot of fantasy: there are extraterrestrials, fairies, magic its really diverse,

Beatriz told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Journalist Debora has volunteered in the Greek camps since August 2016 and said

she and her sister had long dreamed of working together on a book.

Over four months, Debora hosted workshops with children aged between 4 and 14 in

three camps Vasilika, Lagadikia and Oreokastro and in the city of Thessaloniki, to

listen to stories and help children develop ideas.

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30/08/2017 Aliens, magic, fairies among Syrian childrens tales | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

She said they had not aimed to get the children to discuss their experiences fleeing

war, but instead to create a space for them to express themselves.

As they began recording stories, one theme reappeared in every tale, best

demonstrated by Princess Amira, Beatriz said.

In all of the stories children speak about welcoming and belonging and being

accepted, which reflects obviously the experience they have been through, she said.

The book has been popular in Italy and Greece, countries with large refugee

populations, Beatriz said.

Some 60,000 refugees and migrants, many from Syria, have become stranded in

makeshift and formal camps across Greece since Balkan countries closed their

borders last year to those trying to reach western and northern Europe.

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08/08/2017

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