Straw Bag, Tin Box, Cloth Suitcase: Three Immigrant Voices, from Reycraft Books, Intertwines a Trio of Immigration Tales Drawn from Real Life
The illustrated book highlights the commonality of the immigrant experience over several generations.
New Rochelle, NY, July 31, 2023—Leading children’s trade publisher Reycraft Books is pleased to announce the publication of Straw Bag, Tin Box, Cloth Suitcase: Three Immigrant Voices , written by Jane Yolen, Marjorie Lotfi, and Raquel Elizabeth Artiga de Paz, and illustrated by Fotini Tikkou. The book focuses on three women, living on different continents and in different time periods, who share the dramatic, emotional, and ultimately inspiring stories of how their families came to the United States.
All three stories are fictionalized accounts of the journeys made by the authors’ own families to start a new life in America—and in all three cases, these ancestors were fleeing grim realities that included oppression, societal uprisings, violent conflicts, and possible death. Jane Yolen tells the story of Sarah, whose great-great grandmother Manya fled the Cossacks in Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century. Marjorie Lotfi writes about Grace, whose mother escaped with her family during the Iranian revolution in 1979. Raquel Elizabeth Artiga de Paz introduces readers to Raquel, who, with her family, fled gang violence in El Salvador in the 2010s.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Jane Yolen is the author of over 400 books for children. She has won numerous awards, including a lifetime achievement award from the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Caldecott Medal. Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates for her body of work.
Raquel Elizabeth Artiga de Paz emigrated from El Salvador to Massachusetts and is learning English. She met Jane Yolen at the Center for New Americans and, with the help of translator Laurie Millman (head of the Center), they worked on her part of this book together.
Marjorie Lotfi is an Iranian American who has lived in the United Kingdom for over twenty years. Her first collection of poetry, The Wrong Person to Ask, was published in 2023. Marjorie is a Founder and Director of Open Book, a charity that supports over 1,200 reading and creative writing sessions each year across Scotland.
Fotini Tikkou is an illustrator and ceramic artist based in Athens, Greece. She studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts. Her work includes children’s books, editorial illustrations, book covers, art licensing, pattern design, and ceramics.
Lotfi says she enjoyed joining her family’s immigration story with those of her co-authors. “The best aspect of working on this book was learning about their family stories,” she said. “And that despite the years and geographical differences between them, discovering the ways our stories connected.”
Fotini Tikkou’s striking illustrations present the three stories simultaneously on each page, helping to show the connections and similarities, even with the events taking place generations apart. The text and artwork come together to deliver a book that is at once historical, current, and evergreen. “The illustrations really allow the reader to envision each scene,” Lotfi said, “while still leaving something for the imagination to fill in.”
Yolen says the book’s core message is one that she conveys often to her own family. “It is something I say at every-other-yearly Yolen reunion—over seventy cousins now,” she explains. “If you do not remember that you are a part of the immigrations that have made America great, then you are failing the brave family members who made the trip for you.”
ABOUT REYCRAFT BOOKS: Reycraft Books partners with award-winning and up-and-coming authors and illustrators, primarily from underrepresented communities, to provide high-quality books that delight, inform, and honor the voice and vision of all children. Founded in 2019, the imprint publishes authentic stories—engaging picture books, chapter books, middle grade books, graphic novels, and more—that build knowledge, perspective, and connection, meeting the diverse needs of children, families, and educators.