LETTERS to a PRISONER, inspired by Amnesty International

LETTERS to a PRISONER, written and illustrated by Jacques Goldskyn

This simple but exquisite picture book is wordless. What beautiful irony! The book’s images slowly show us a parent and child protesting. The parent is arrested, jailed, and placed in solitary confinement. But the power of words, of letters, exchanged allow the prisoner’s soul to escape confinement. Letters of encouragement and hope written initially by the child and then by ordinary citizens arrive from all parts of the world – cowboys, students, farmers, teachers, even a child who is armless . . . even letters from this book’s author, Jacques Goldskyn.

The prisoner’s spirit is again able to soar free.

“A powerful ode to freedom of expression, LETTERS to a PRISONER, is also a testament to the power of individuals to effect change in the world. This book was inspired by Amnesty International’s global Write for Right campaign and supported by PEN America which is happening right now.”

Go to https://pen.org/you-are-not-alone-2017 and send your letter of support to a writer unjustly imprisoned for his or her ideas. Share this book with a child and write a letter together. I think this book will inspire you. Excellent “companion books” are STAMP COLLECTOR by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale;  FAR APART, CLOSE IN HEART, Being a Family When a Loved One is Incarcerated by Becky Birtha and pictures by Maja Kastelic.

Jacques Goldstyn lives in Montral, Quebec, Canada and is the author/illustrator of several picture books which have won the French-language TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award in 2016. LETTERS to a PRISONERS was published by Owlkids Books, Inc. located in both Toronto, Canada and Berkeley, California.

https://pen.org/

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