Ayah and the Big World Outside

Today is baking day.
Once a week Ayah and her mother get to use the tandoor oven at their refugee camp. While they bake, Ayah talks about her teacher asking the class what they want to be when they grow up. Her mother wonders if Ayah wants to be an engineer or a singer...but Ayah has never met anyone like that.
While getting some fresh air, Ayah rests her eyes until a swallow says hello. "Please can I have some bread?" it asks. Ayah shares her snack, and the swallow tells her about its travels. Ayah has never seen the world outside the fence--she thought it was all dangerous. The sparrow explains that there are many places without war, and he invites her to climb on his back to fly with him and see the world for herself. Together they soar over fields and mountains and busy cities, and when Ayah returns, she can dream of a future where she'll be free.
Available in French as Ayah et le vaste monde.

Julie Sedivy is a citizen of three countries. At the age of two, she left the country of her birth, (Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) soon after the Soviet invasion of 1968. She has made her home in many places, including Montreal, upstate New York, Providence in Rhode Island and Calgary, where she currently lives and writes. She has taught linguistics and psychology at Brown University and the University of Calgary, and is the author of several nonfiction books, including Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love. She is especially interested in the complicated and beautiful lives of people who are not sure where to call home.