A Look at Homelessness
If you live in an urban centre, chances are you have passed a person experiencing homelessness and if you have a child, chances are they have asked questions. Very rarely, if ever, has children’s literature explored the topic of homelessness.
The One with The Scraggly Beard by Elizabeth Withey and Lynn Scurfield is a beautiful, lyrical exploration from a child’s perspective about a homeless man who lives in his neighbourhood. Told with love and with a realistic portrayal of a homeless person. Elizabeth Withey writes from personal experience, she has a brother who is homeless and this story is her reflection from when she had to talk to her son about his uncle. It’s really difficult for children who have not experienced homelessness to understand why someone doesn’t have a home and Elizabeth Withey sheds light and moves us to be empathetic to those we encounter in The One With the Scraggly Beard.
The illustrations by Lynn Scurfield are brilliant. They are full of colour and joyful when they must be and dark when they must be. No space is is left untouched by the artist’s hand.
Orca Book Publishers is remarkable at publishing the stories we need. They ensure our young readers have a breadth of stories not only to help parents and educators navigate sometimes sensitive topics but they also ensure all children are seen in the books they choose to publish. It is so important for booksellers to choose to publish books because they are needed by our readers rather than relying on old tropes and narratives that are traditionally published. We need more Canadian publishers to follow the lead of Orca Book Publishers when they are acquiring new stories.
