The Blue Door

A young girl and her grandfather travel across time to visit his home village, now destroyed, in Palestine. A tender intergenerational picture book for ages 58 about longing, liberation, resilience, and the enduring dream of home.

A child in Palestine pays special attention to a strange door in her living room. The door is blue, cracked and faded, and serves no purpose as it rests against a wall, leading nowhere. The child’s grandfather, however, not only seems to protect the door, but also appears to have a special use for it. One night he shows her how the blue door can spring into the air, carrying both of them to the home village where he spent his youth, before his displacement to the refugee camp where they both live.

The Blue Door depicts life upended by occupation. Nimr’s telling is both matter of fact and poetic, powerfully evoking a longing that feels too big to be contained by these pages. Raouf Karray’