four feet two sandals by karen lynn williams

She quickly takes off the sandal and gives it to Lina. The girl with the other sandal is also doing the laundry at the stream. The next day, wearing one sandal, Lina walks to the stream to do the family laundry. Both girls turn and go back to their tents. She looks thin and weak and her cracked lips betray her recent arrival in the camp. Nearby, another young girl stands, holding the other sandal. Having been barefoot for two years, Lina wonders what happened to the other sandal. All the people are fighting for the clothes and Lina was only able to get one sandal. Lina races into the crowd when a relief truck brings much-needed clothes to the camp.

The name of this moving story is “Four Feet, Two Sandals.” Karen Williams has written a touching story of two refugee girls sharing all that they have in a desperate refugee camp. In today’s world, millions of people are refugees because of war, drought and famine. The Holy Family had done nothing wrong, but there they were in flight from Herod’s assassins. Joseph was warned, he took Mary and the Infant Jesus and left in the middle of the night. If we think refugees are somehow responsible for their fate, we should recall the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt. Refugees usually have little power or money, which makes them vulnerable.

These people become refugees and often face a grim life of trying to get food to eat and clothes to wear. To escape the horrors of war, people are often forced to flee their birthplace and sometimes even their country. By Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed, illustrated by Doug Chayka.Įerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, Mich., 2007, 32 pages, Grades 2-4.

Four feet two sandals by karen lynn williams