Portuguese educator and first-time author Henriqueta Cristina spins the story of a family who must leave their oppressive home country in search of freedom in this powerful picture-book. At first things seem well in their new country - all the children can go to school, and there is no poverty - but soon the uniformity of this new society begins to erode their happiness. A skilled knitter, the mother of the family begins to unravel the children's monotone sweaters, recreating them as vibrant multi-colored garments. This simple act has a ripple effect in the new country, leading others to reject uniformity as well...

Originally published in Portuguese as Com 3 novelos (o mundo dá muitas voltas), and translated into English by young adult novelist Lyn Miller-Lachmann for the Brooklyn-based Enchanted Lion Books, Three Balls of Wool (Can Change the World) pairs a simple but thought-provoking text from Cristina with striking artwork from illustrator Yara Kono. The English edition (I'm not sure about the original Portuguese) is published in conjunction with Amnesty International, and there is a forward from Cynthia Gabriel Walsh, of Amnesty International USA, as well the complete text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the rear of the book. A brief afterword from the author explains that the story here is based on the experiences of a real family, who fled Portugal in the 1960s, eventually settling in Czechoslovakia, where they participated in the Prague Spring in 1968. I thought that this was fascinating, as it highlights (as does the story), that both Communinist and non-Communist Europe at that time had a long way to go to achieve freedom and democracy, and that one can flee one type of oppression, only to discover another. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about the refugee experience, and about human rights. ( )

history; amnesty international; conformity; communism ... none of these words are mentioned in the story ... author's notes at beginning and end tell more ( )