Czenya Cavouras,
Rainbow Bird
Wakefield Press, 2007.

Ages 8+

Rainbow Bird is a striking picture-book of few words that conveys a strong message.  Readers are invited to explore the emotions that might be experienced by a young refugee, forced to flee the home they love and to endure the uncertainty and indignity of a detention centre in a new country (in this case, Australia), awaiting a decision that will affect the rest of their lives.  Rainbow Bird ends on a note of hope, embodied in the Rainbow Bird itself, flying past the window.

A gifted young writer, Czenya Cavouras created Rainbow Bird between the ages of twelve and fourteen. Her inspiration came from talking to her grandfather about his visits to an immigration detention center and then imagining what it must be like to be a refugee.  The first-person narrative personalizes the refugee experience but there is also a universality about the book: so, for example, “Will I see my father dance again?” depicts only the father’s legs dancing. 

Cavouras demonstrates a confident use of color – black ink delineation provides some stark contrasts with a generally bright palette. In one instance, the blacked out shading of what on the previous page had been a throng of colorful butterflies (in itself an ironical depiction of “I felt butterflies in my stomach.”) certainly conveys the sense of foreboding inherent in “A shiver coursed through my body.”  A view of the barbed-wire-topped enclosure of the detention center is framed by relevant newspaper cuttings; and a huge wrist-watch stretched across two pages represents the passing of time spent in captivity, but also offers much scope for interpretation through the supposedly decorative image on the watch face.

The publication of Rainbow Bird was a joint venture between Wakefield Press and the non-profit Australia Against Racism (no longer in operation).  It is an extraordinarily evocative book that urges readers both young and old to open their minds and hearts to the emotional journey that refugees undergo – both when fleeing their homeland, and when starting a new life in a country that has welcomed them but where, in all likelihood, they will also have to endure some distrust and racism.  Rainbow Bird is an invaluable tool for countering that hostility and offering, instead, scope for empathy and generosity.

Marjorie Coughlan
August 2010