The Day War Came by Nicola Davies

The Day War Came by Nicola Davies

A moving picture book about the journey of a child forced to become a refugee when war destroys everything she has ever known.

Imagine if, on an ordinary day, war came. Imagine it turned your town to rubble. Imagine going on a long and difficult journey – all alone. Imagine finding no welcome at the end of it. Then imagine a child who gives you something small but very, very precious...

This sensitive and hopeful book encourages empathy and understanding around the important topics of war and refugees. With beautiful illustrations by the award-winning Rebecca Cobb, The Day the War Came is essential for every Key Stage 2 classroom, for helping explain world events to young readers.

Originally written as a poem by Welsh Children's Laureate Nicola Davies in response to the UK government refusing to allow 3,000 child refugees to enter the UK in 2016, it started a campaign for which artists contributed drawings of chairs, symbolising a seat in a classroom, education, kindness, the hope of a future. It is a message of compassion and humanity that continues to resonate today.

“In a wholly different register, The Day War Came combines Nicola Davies’s simple, hard-hitting text and Rebecca Cobb’s pencil drawings to evoke the destruction of everyday reality for the youngest victims of conflictThought-provoking and poignant, it’s an excellent answer to the question of how to talk to children about war.” * The Guardian *
“The deceptively simple narrative combined with Rebecca Cobb’s evocative illustrations make this a useful tool for explaining the refugee crisis to younger readers.” * Oldie *
“[…] it ends on a powerful notes about the power of kindness and the potential for a better future.” * Surrey Advertiser *
“an incredibly powerful picture book […]. Cobb’s illustrations are both beautiful and devastating.” * The Bookseller *
“A tale of humanity and compassion that is worth sharing.” * South Wales Evening Post *

Nicola Davies is a multi-award-winning author and Children's Laureate Wales 2025-27. Her many books for children include A First Book of Nature, Lots, The Promise and One World. She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit, eventually becoming one of the original presenters of The Really Wild Show. She was the first ever recipient of the SLA’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books. Rebecca Cobb grew up surrounded by coloured pencils, felt pens, wax crayons, poster paints and pieces of paper. She studied illustration at Falmouth College of Arts and has been living in Falmouth and working as an author and illustrator ever since. As well as illustrating her own picture books, Rebecca has also illustrated works by authors including Helen Dunmore, Julia Donaldson, Richard Curtis, Nicola Davies, Katherine Woodfine and Mariesa Dulak. Rebecca has won the Waterstones Children’s Picture Book Prize, Peters Picture Book award, the InspiREAD Picture book award, and she has been shortlisted for the prestigious CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal three times. Find her online at rebeccacobb.co.uk, on Instagram as @rebecca_a_cobb or on X as @rebecca_cobb.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781406382938
ISBN 10	1406382930
Title	The Day War Came
Author	Nicola Davies
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Walker Books Ltd
Year published	2019-04-04
Number of pages	32
Prizes	Winner of Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award 2019 (China), Winner of Comstock Read Aloud Book Award, Honor Book 2019 (United States), Winner of National Council of Teachers of English Charlotte Huck Honor Book 2018 (United States), Short-listed for Bishop’s Stortford College Picture Book Award 2020 (UK), Short-listed for Kate Greenaway Medal (CILIP) 2019 (UK), Short-listed for UKLA Book Award 2020 (UK)
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.