In Maxine Trottier’s Migrant, we learn what’s like to be a migrant worker through the eyes of a young girl named Anna. Trottier relates migrant families to a flock of birds, comforts them with a kitten’s warmth, and compares their temporary housing to a jack rabbit’s burrow. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault bring Anna’s imagination to life – her transformation to a jack rabbit to comparing the voices of her fellow migrants to crickets before she is whisked away by one upon its back. As a child whose mother traveled across the state and country for work while she was growing up, this book echoes her memories. It’s beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated that all readers will fall in love with it immediately. ( )

This is a really powerful story about a group of migrant workers from Mexico, the Mennonites. They travel from their homes in Mexico back up to Canada to find work. Conditions are difficult, their temporary homes are shabby yet expensive, and people treat them poorly as migrant workers. This book was written to raise awareness for families such as Anna's. The text uses a lot of metaphors, with Anna comparing herself to a migrating bird, a burrowing jackrabbit, and a kitten snuggled with siblings. We get a glimpse into how Anna feels through her figurative language. Anna also is confused by the people she sees in the grocery store, with their brightly colored hair and tattoos, because it is so different from her family's way of life. Other people also stare at Anna and her family for the same reason. This book was very eye-opening, providing insight into a way of life that is not often talked about. The illustrations were also amazing; each of the metaphors Anna uses come to life in the drawings. I would highly recommend reading this book, but without the context of the author's note, you would not know what the book was referring to. ( )

An interesting tale of a young migrant girl who is of German descent but migrates from Mexico each year with her family as they work the fields in Canada. ( )

Anna and her Mennonite family migrate every year from their farms in Mexico to work in Canada's fields. Still citizens of Canada, which they left in the 1920s, they come for the work that will help them survive in their adopted home, where life is hard. Anna wonders about many things, chief amongst them what it would feel like to be settled. She sometimes feels shy and out of place amongst Canada's English-speaking people - her community speak Low German, or Plautdietsch - but she also enjoys hearing unfamiliar words and tones. Eventually, at the end of the season, her family migrates again...

Migrant pairs an emotionally rich but understated narrative from author Maxine Trottier with lovely artwork from illustrator Isabelle Arsenault, poignantly depicting the emotional life of a child of migrant workers. I was unaware of this community of Mennonites, before picking up the book, and although I didn't learn much more about them specifically - something I have seen criticized - I felt that the story was successful in exploring, not just the emotional costs of this kind of work, but also the feeling of being set apart, when one belongs to a small religious minority. The artwork is beautiful, ably capturing Anna's flights of fancy, whether she is imagining herself and her sisters as kittens, or her family as migrating birds. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books that offer a gentle introduction to the idea of migrant work and workers. ( )

A good book, great illustrations, but I think over kids' heads. Tells the story of migrant workers. Not sure kids will *get* what the author is trying to convey...I'm not at all against picture books for grown ups, just sayin.... ( )