The Island

Islanders find a man on the beach. He isn’t like them. They want to send him back to sea, but they don’t want to be responsible for his death.

They take him in, but lock him in a goat pen. He needs food, so they give him the pigs’ scraps and lock him up again.

The islanders imagine the evil the man could do. Growing restless and fearful, they march him to his raft and force him out to sea. They build a high wall around the island so that outsiders can’t trouble them again.

This chilling picture book about prejudice, intolerance and the plight of refugees will spark classroom discussions with older readers. The illustrations are fitting: sombre, menacing and dark-toned.