Flora Popescu’s parents are planning to defect when daily life suddenly brings frightening changes – some linked to a friendship between Flora and a new boy at school. Unlike his poor classmates, Daniel dresses and eats well, and his father ranks high in the secret police. Flora slowly realises that her father is in danger and only she can save him from the secret police.

Shadow, set partly in Afghanistan, partly at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in the UK, is the story of Aman, an Afghan boy fleeing the horror of war. Told in his own words, it traces how Aman befriends a western dog which appears outside the caves where he lives with his mother. When Aman and his mother decide to make a bid for freedom, the dog, which Aman has called Shadow, will not leave them. Soon it becomes clear that the destinies of boy and dog are linked.

Secrets in the Fire is based on the true story of Sofia, an indomitable young girl in war-torn Mozambique, who strays from a path while playing and steps on a landmine. She manages to transcend the brutality and horror that have shattered her childhood, and builds a new future out of the ruins of her life.

Written by Ying Chang Compestine, this is a powerful story of a girl who comes of age during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1969). Nine-year-old Ling leads a happy life with her parents, both dedicated doctors. Comrade Li, one of Mao’s political officers, moves into their apartment and creates an atmosphere of increasing mistrust in which Ling begins to fear for her family’s safety. Over four years, and despite witnessing many horrors, Ling not only survives, but blooms.

A beautifully illustrated book for the primary classroom. Bob Graham’s story talks about caring for others with respect, patience and understanding. By using few words, and wonderful drawings, Graham allows children to explore how best to be active citizens and caring individuals in a very busy world. By rescuing a sick bird that no one else has noticed, the main character, Will, finds a way, with his parents’ help, to bring the bird back to good health, giving it its freedom once more.

This is a compelling story about the Crimean Tatars’ struggle to reclaim the land from which they were exiled in World War II. All her life, Safi’s parents dreamed of returning to her grandpa’s native village in Crimea. But they end up exchanging their sunny Uzbekistan house for a squalid camp where no one welcomes them. The story explores how the struggle threatens to tear Safi’s family apart, and asks if this strange land can ever become home.

A powerful story about a young girl’s struggle within the constraints of her nomadic society. Shabanu lives with her camel-herding family in Pakistan’s Cholistan Desert. At 12, she is already betrothed, while her 13-year-old sister is about to be married. When tragedy strikes, Shabanu must choose between dreams of freedom and obligations to family and culture.

Soldiers of the Kashmir Freedom Fighters are in search of new recruits at nine-year-old Rafiq’s school in rural Kashmir. They scrawl a line in chalk on the schoolroom wall. Any boy whose height reaches the line will be taken to fight. Rafiq is tall for his age and becomes the first boy to cross into a life of brutality and terrorism. So begins Rafiq’s transformation from child to boy soldier, indoctrinated into a cause of fanatical belief. But even when he no longer recognises himself, his family remembers the boy he was and hopes he will return.

This beautifully illustrated book introduces deafness to young children. The story explores some of the difficulties a child who is deaf may face, and how upsetting these can be. The story helps to reinforce how important it is to make sure everyone is included in games and activities, and how easy it is to make changes so that this can happen.

Many children’s novels and even picture books possess great power to open up new worlds and inspire a capacity for empathy. Being able to empathise makes it easier to be kind, tolerant and willing to consider other points of view. It makes it harder to adopt prejudiced stances, helps to guard against aggression and conflict and may even encourage people to take positive action on behalf of others. It also helps young people to put their own problems in perspective. These are all values that lie at the heart of human rights and we can find them in books for children.

A selection of activities for primary classes to explore asylum and refugee issues in a participatory way. Created by our Edinburgh office for schools in Scotland, this is a great resource for schools anywhere in the UK.

Education activities about a group of refugees escaping to freedom.

A human rights education resource focusing on refugees and asylum. For use with young people aged 11-16 across a range of subject areas or as part of a cross-curricular or drop-down day- updated August 2017.