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Choose Love
Choose Love is a cycle of poems that highlights the experience of those forced to become refugees. The core of the collection was written in 2018 as part of a project with the charity Refugee Trauma Initiative.
With the permission of both individual refugees and aid workers, RTI shared with Nicola a number of true and poignant stories which were then used as the basis for short-form poems. Over the following years Nicola has added to this core of poems to create a coherent collection on the theme of forced migration, its wider causes and consequences.
With the permission of both individual refugees and aid workers, RTI shared with Nicola a number of true and poignant stories which were then used as the basis for short-form poems. Over the following years Nicola has added to this core of poems to create a coherent collection on the theme of forced migration, its wider causes and consequences.
- GenresPoetry
48 pages, Hardcover
Published November 22, 2022
About the author
Nicola Davies
200 books191 followers"I was very small when I saw my first dolphin," says zoologist Nicola Davies, recalling a seminal visit with her father to a dolphin show at the zoo. Enchanted at the sight of what she called the "big fish" jumping so high and swimming so fast, she determined right then that she would meet the amazing creatures again "in the wild, where they belonged." And indeed she did--as part of a pair of scientific expeditions, one to Newfoundland at the age of eighteen and another to the Indian Ocean a year later. In WILD ABOUT DOLPHINS, Nicola Davies describes her voyages in a firsthand account filled with fascinating facts and captivating photographs of seven species of dolphins in action.
Nicola Davies's seemingly boundless enthusiasm for studying animals of all kinds has led her around the world--and fortunately for young readers, she is just as excited about sharing her interests through picture books. The zoologist's latest offering puts a decidedly quirky twist on her years of experience: POOP: A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE UNMENTIONABLE is a fun, fact-filled guide to the fascinating world of poop across species. "As a zoologist, you are never far from poop!" the writer explains. "I've baked goose poop in an oven with my dinner, looked at bat poop under the microscope, and had my T-shirt stained pink with blue-whale poop. I was obviously fated to write this book."
The exceptional combination of Nicola Davies's zoological expertise and her first-rate children's writing is apparent in her remarkable catalog of award-winning titles. Her first book with Candlewick Press, BIG BLUE WHALE, was hailed by American Bookseller as an "artfully composed study" offering "language exactly appropriate for four- to seven-year-olds and precisely the right amount of information." In ONE TINY TURTLE, Nicola Davies's clear, compelling narrative follows the life of the rarely seen loggerhead turtle, which swims the oceans for thirty years and for thousands of miles in search of food, only to return, uncannily, to lay her eggs on the very beach where she was born. The author's next book, BAT LOVES THE NIGHT, is a tenderly written ode to a much-misunderstood flying mammal, the pipistrelle bat, while SURPRISING SHARKS--winner of a BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK Honor Award--contains unexpected facts about another one of the planet's most infamous animals.
When she is not off on scientific expeditions, Nicola Davies lives in a cottage in Somerset, England, where she is lucky enough to have pipistrelle bats nesting in her roof.
Nicola Davies's seemingly boundless enthusiasm for studying animals of all kinds has led her around the world--and fortunately for young readers, she is just as excited about sharing her interests through picture books. The zoologist's latest offering puts a decidedly quirky twist on her years of experience: POOP: A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE UNMENTIONABLE is a fun, fact-filled guide to the fascinating world of poop across species. "As a zoologist, you are never far from poop!" the writer explains. "I've baked goose poop in an oven with my dinner, looked at bat poop under the microscope, and had my T-shirt stained pink with blue-whale poop. I was obviously fated to write this book."
The exceptional combination of Nicola Davies's zoological expertise and her first-rate children's writing is apparent in her remarkable catalog of award-winning titles. Her first book with Candlewick Press, BIG BLUE WHALE, was hailed by American Bookseller as an "artfully composed study" offering "language exactly appropriate for four- to seven-year-olds and precisely the right amount of information." In ONE TINY TURTLE, Nicola Davies's clear, compelling narrative follows the life of the rarely seen loggerhead turtle, which swims the oceans for thirty years and for thousands of miles in search of food, only to return, uncannily, to lay her eggs on the very beach where she was born. The author's next book, BAT LOVES THE NIGHT, is a tenderly written ode to a much-misunderstood flying mammal, the pipistrelle bat, while SURPRISING SHARKS--winner of a BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK Honor Award--contains unexpected facts about another one of the planet's most infamous animals.
When she is not off on scientific expeditions, Nicola Davies lives in a cottage in Somerset, England, where she is lucky enough to have pipistrelle bats nesting in her roof.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
June 4, 2024
Read as part of the YOTO Carnegie Medal shadowing scheme.
I fear I'm being unduly harsh on this book due to its inclusion on the Carnegie shortlist. It's an absolutely lovely object, and Petr Horacek's illustrations are absolutely stunning - definitely its strength. The stories told within are also touching, moving and infuriating in equal quantities. Written as a response to a global crisis, these poems are an accessible perspective on the refugee crisis which I'm sure will be easily understood by children.
However, is this one of the eight best works of children's literature published in English in the last year? I am increasingly concerned that the judging panel for the Carnegies isn't thinking of the kids at all. Fronting a poetry collection against 7 pieces of narrative fiction seems bizarre to me. The poems, despite their moving contents, don't feel particularly like anything to write home about, and Horacek's accompanying paintings, though stunning, are incredibly abstract, and I think some younger readers will struggle to resonate with them. I think the issue with this kind of collection is it doesn't meet kids where they are - the writing too simplistic, the accompanying illustrations too abstract. When we handed this book out to our Year 8 shadowers (most schools tend to average out about here for shadowers because of Carnegie's refusal to split the award into MG and YA prizes) they screwed up their faces as they thought they were being handed a children's picture book. This age group wants compelling, exciting narratives, and Carnegie wants to weigh them down with hard hitting social issues at every turn. This isn't to say kids can't appreciate a challenging issue, or enjoy a book about a pertinent political issue, but the Carnegie shortlist has become so laden with tragedy and sadness of late that year on year our kids respond with increasing indifference towards it.
I fear I'm being unduly harsh on this book due to its inclusion on the Carnegie shortlist. It's an absolutely lovely object, and Petr Horacek's illustrations are absolutely stunning - definitely its strength. The stories told within are also touching, moving and infuriating in equal quantities. Written as a response to a global crisis, these poems are an accessible perspective on the refugee crisis which I'm sure will be easily understood by children.
However, is this one of the eight best works of children's literature published in English in the last year? I am increasingly concerned that the judging panel for the Carnegies isn't thinking of the kids at all. Fronting a poetry collection against 7 pieces of narrative fiction seems bizarre to me. The poems, despite their moving contents, don't feel particularly like anything to write home about, and Horacek's accompanying paintings, though stunning, are incredibly abstract, and I think some younger readers will struggle to resonate with them. I think the issue with this kind of collection is it doesn't meet kids where they are - the writing too simplistic, the accompanying illustrations too abstract. When we handed this book out to our Year 8 shadowers (most schools tend to average out about here for shadowers because of Carnegie's refusal to split the award into MG and YA prizes) they screwed up their faces as they thought they were being handed a children's picture book. This age group wants compelling, exciting narratives, and Carnegie wants to weigh them down with hard hitting social issues at every turn. This isn't to say kids can't appreciate a challenging issue, or enjoy a book about a pertinent political issue, but the Carnegie shortlist has become so laden with tragedy and sadness of late that year on year our kids respond with increasing indifference towards it.
February 27, 2024
Choose Love is a collection of hard hitting, unflinching poetry focusing on refugees and the traumatic experiences they deal with being displaced people. Nicola Davies began this project in 2018 with the charities Choose Love and Refugee Trauma Initiative who provide a plethora of services to those in need including refugees search and rescue boats, legal advice, hygiene kits, hot food and mental health support. Although this poetry collaboration began with the humanitarian crisis because of the war in Syria, it now presents the struggle thousands of people are enduring because of war around the globe. Refugee Trauma deserves all the support and funding available for their work providing culturally appropriate psychosocial support to people in their native languages in refugee camps and as they transition into new communities.
These charities shared true stories and real-life experiences with Nicola to create the poems seen in this collection, which have been spilt into three sections featuring poems under different categories: Departure, Arrival and Healing, each focusing on a different stage of refugees daily life. Each section features four poems and four pieces of abstract, mixed media art works by Petr Horácek, using heavy textured soft and oil pastels. These pieces really set this poetry collection apart from others that I’ve read, they’re haunting and create such a harrowing feel to the book.
Here are three of my favourite poems that really blew me away:
Mathematics - made up of three stanzas of sestets featuring rhyming couplets - sometimes the most simple forms are the best.
‘rules are made with gun and knife,
And ten year olds take their own life.
Countless corpses in the sea,
This is the maths of misery’
This poem provokes such strong imagery and doesn’t shy away from the truth.
The Interview - inspired by ‘the ‘Substantive Interview’ where the interviewee’s account of their reasons for asylum seeking are rigorously tested and challenged’. Another great book focusing on this is Valeria Luiselli’s Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions which is absolutely groundbreaking work.
‘How can a person not know
the date that they were born on?
It makes you suspicious from the start.’
Unbroken - Nicola uses some really beautiful symbolism here to examine the fragility of human emotion when dealing with trauma.
‘The china cup was my mother’s,
The one small thing of beauty in her harsh life.
I carried it across continents and oceans,
The one small thing of beauty in my lost life,
It held my endurance and my patience.
Today it broke.
I can no longer endure,
I can no longer be patient.
My rage consumes me’
This collection is so powerful and the publication is beautiful, I think the foreword by Onjali Rauf expresses my opinions far better than I could: ‘I have been rendered utterly speechless by the happening of the world. Most of these moments have resolved around bearing witness to acts of inhumanity, often spurred by racism so visceral it is unfathomable and designed to harm yet further an already deeply hurt group of human hearts.’
Such a gorgeous book that I’d recommend to any poetry lover, activist or sympathetic human.
These charities shared true stories and real-life experiences with Nicola to create the poems seen in this collection, which have been spilt into three sections featuring poems under different categories: Departure, Arrival and Healing, each focusing on a different stage of refugees daily life. Each section features four poems and four pieces of abstract, mixed media art works by Petr Horácek, using heavy textured soft and oil pastels. These pieces really set this poetry collection apart from others that I’ve read, they’re haunting and create such a harrowing feel to the book.
Here are three of my favourite poems that really blew me away:
Mathematics - made up of three stanzas of sestets featuring rhyming couplets - sometimes the most simple forms are the best.
‘rules are made with gun and knife,
And ten year olds take their own life.
Countless corpses in the sea,
This is the maths of misery’
This poem provokes such strong imagery and doesn’t shy away from the truth.
The Interview - inspired by ‘the ‘Substantive Interview’ where the interviewee’s account of their reasons for asylum seeking are rigorously tested and challenged’. Another great book focusing on this is Valeria Luiselli’s Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions which is absolutely groundbreaking work.
‘How can a person not know
the date that they were born on?
It makes you suspicious from the start.’
Unbroken - Nicola uses some really beautiful symbolism here to examine the fragility of human emotion when dealing with trauma.
‘The china cup was my mother’s,
The one small thing of beauty in her harsh life.
I carried it across continents and oceans,
The one small thing of beauty in my lost life,
It held my endurance and my patience.
Today it broke.
I can no longer endure,
I can no longer be patient.
My rage consumes me’
This collection is so powerful and the publication is beautiful, I think the foreword by Onjali Rauf expresses my opinions far better than I could: ‘I have been rendered utterly speechless by the happening of the world. Most of these moments have resolved around bearing witness to acts of inhumanity, often spurred by racism so visceral it is unfathomable and designed to harm yet further an already deeply hurt group of human hearts.’
Such a gorgeous book that I’d recommend to any poetry lover, activist or sympathetic human.
September 1, 2025
"The 'crisis' we hear of, breaking through our news channels, is not a refugee crisis. It is a crisis of man-made borders and decisions, all of which will have repercussions beyond our imaginings and upon generations to come. The silence around it needs to be broken. Not with sensational headlines, but with words which convey truths. Real, humanising, humane truths, capable of dismantling the bogey monster of 'The Refugee' lurking in the minds of many who are lucky enough to be residing in a land (currently) safe from war, or climate change disasters occurring on a mass scale. "
This book is a humbling collection of poetry with striking illustrations.
This one really stood out...especially how you consider the fact people's lives are reduced down and dehumanised to statistics.
Mathematics
" Two hundred on a tiny boat,
Forty drowned when it won't float.
Eight thousand in a camp or two,
Seventy sharing a portaloo.
Sixteen crammed in an isobox,
Thirty down with chicken pox.
No roof, no food, no clothes, no soap.
No home, no dignity, no hope.
Humans crammed on overload,
No surprise that they explode.
Rules are made with gun and knife,
And ten year olds take their own life.
Countless corpses in the sea,
This is the maths of misery.
A rising tide of pain and sorrow
And forty thousand more tomorrow.
This is the maths of misery,
It could be you, it could be me. "
This book is a humbling collection of poetry with striking illustrations.
This one really stood out...especially how you consider the fact people's lives are reduced down and dehumanised to statistics.
Mathematics
" Two hundred on a tiny boat,
Forty drowned when it won't float.
Eight thousand in a camp or two,
Seventy sharing a portaloo.
Sixteen crammed in an isobox,
Thirty down with chicken pox.
No roof, no food, no clothes, no soap.
No home, no dignity, no hope.
Humans crammed on overload,
No surprise that they explode.
Rules are made with gun and knife,
And ten year olds take their own life.
Countless corpses in the sea,
This is the maths of misery.
A rising tide of pain and sorrow
And forty thousand more tomorrow.
This is the maths of misery,
It could be you, it could be me. "
March 13, 2024
Beautiful. Deeply moving and unsettling.
March 22, 2024
Shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Prize. Such a beautiful book with poetry that gets to the heart and abstract illustrations that are deeply profound. The twelve poems are in three sections and are about refugees and the heartbreak is suffered. The first section, Departure, the decision to leave, to try a find a safe haven. One of the most poignant poems from that section, for me, was Five Minutes.
'You've got five minutes, what will you choose
From all that you're about to lose?'
The second four poems are under the heading Arrival. These focus of the reaction of the refugees and to the refugees. Those who ask of them 'Why is he here?' and the questions the refugees themselves ask,
'Waiting with no country, no place to go, no job to do,
while someone decides if what you've suffered is enough.'
The final section of four poems is titles Healing as with time there is hope that life will get better. Some reviews have stated that the book is too short, but I think that the fact that there are only 12 poems makes a much greater impact. A stunning book.
'You've got five minutes, what will you choose
From all that you're about to lose?'
The second four poems are under the heading Arrival. These focus of the reaction of the refugees and to the refugees. Those who ask of them 'Why is he here?' and the questions the refugees themselves ask,
'Waiting with no country, no place to go, no job to do,
while someone decides if what you've suffered is enough.'
The final section of four poems is titles Healing as with time there is hope that life will get better. Some reviews have stated that the book is too short, but I think that the fact that there are only 12 poems makes a much greater impact. A stunning book.
May 4, 2024
Can I give this book minus stars?
I paid £9.99 for this on kindle, assuming that even if I didn’t ‘like’ it, it would be good, as it’s a Carnegie shortlisted title.
It’s terrible. The poetry is not my style. Each poem is in a different style and very short. No one person is followed through the book, so it’s jarring to try and read front to back. Obviously it is a collection of different poems, but when they’re tied together by one theme and follow a timeline I expect them to flow better.
The illustrations are terrible. I know art is subjective, but scribbles on paper that are suggestive of something, are just not my cup of tea.
Additionally it was almost unreadable on kindle (you have to zoom in on each block of text).
The only redeeming feature is that it is a depressing read, and it should be, because it tackles the subject matter of the impossible plight of refugees and the disgusting way we treat them.
It took me 15 minutes to read and is one of the worst things I’ve read.
I paid £9.99 for this on kindle, assuming that even if I didn’t ‘like’ it, it would be good, as it’s a Carnegie shortlisted title.
It’s terrible. The poetry is not my style. Each poem is in a different style and very short. No one person is followed through the book, so it’s jarring to try and read front to back. Obviously it is a collection of different poems, but when they’re tied together by one theme and follow a timeline I expect them to flow better.
The illustrations are terrible. I know art is subjective, but scribbles on paper that are suggestive of something, are just not my cup of tea.
Additionally it was almost unreadable on kindle (you have to zoom in on each block of text).
The only redeeming feature is that it is a depressing read, and it should be, because it tackles the subject matter of the impossible plight of refugees and the disgusting way we treat them.
It took me 15 minutes to read and is one of the worst things I’ve read.
February 15, 2023
💕Choose Love
✒️@nicolakidsbooks
🎨@p.horacek_
📔@graffegbooks - kindly sent for review (ad-pr)
The most incredible, thought provoking, at times gut wrenchingly, harrowing poems that reach deep into your soul and change your view of the world. There's glimpses of hope splintered throughout, hope when you choose love.
Petr is a much loved children's illustrator of ours and it's beautiful to see this other side to his work. He encapsulates the sentiment of Nicola's powerful words so symbiotically they seem as one. Do swipe through to see.
There's poems I would certainly read to a younger audience but it's a book I wouldn't leave my 6 year old reading on her own. A superb choice for older teen readers and adults. One of my top recommendations for 2023.
All royalties go to the charity @chooselove. It truly is a special, must read book.
✒️@nicolakidsbooks
🎨@p.horacek_
📔@graffegbooks - kindly sent for review (ad-pr)
The most incredible, thought provoking, at times gut wrenchingly, harrowing poems that reach deep into your soul and change your view of the world. There's glimpses of hope splintered throughout, hope when you choose love.
Petr is a much loved children's illustrator of ours and it's beautiful to see this other side to his work. He encapsulates the sentiment of Nicola's powerful words so symbiotically they seem as one. Do swipe through to see.
There's poems I would certainly read to a younger audience but it's a book I wouldn't leave my 6 year old reading on her own. A superb choice for older teen readers and adults. One of my top recommendations for 2023.
All royalties go to the charity @chooselove. It truly is a special, must read book.
January 28, 2024
I have read lots of books by my favourite children’s author Nicola Davies. This one full of poetry will touch every reader’s heart.
MY FAVOURITE HEART-BREAKING POEM
FIVE MINUTES
You’ve got five minutes, what will you choose From all that you’re about to loose?
You’ve got five minutes to fill your arms, When the city shrieks with fire alarms.
You’ve got five minutes, what will you bring? A hat? A coat? A wedding ring?
You’ve got five minutes, no time for pain, Because bricks and mortar fall like rain.
You’ve got five minutes to save a life, Your sleeping children, your brothers wife?
You’ve got five minutes to run, run, run, While the sky burns up like a dying sun.
You’ve got five minutes to count the cost of the past and future you just lost.
MY FAVOURITE HEART-BREAKING POEM
FIVE MINUTES
You’ve got five minutes, what will you choose From all that you’re about to loose?
You’ve got five minutes to fill your arms, When the city shrieks with fire alarms.
You’ve got five minutes, what will you bring? A hat? A coat? A wedding ring?
You’ve got five minutes, no time for pain, Because bricks and mortar fall like rain.
You’ve got five minutes to save a life, Your sleeping children, your brothers wife?
You’ve got five minutes to run, run, run, While the sky burns up like a dying sun.
You’ve got five minutes to count the cost of the past and future you just lost.
May 2, 2024
This book has given me lots of sympathy for refugees. I knew they had a dare time but reading this book and finding out that it’s all true just makes me more sympathetic. It’s a really good, fun and educational poetry book about why refugees shouldn’t be treated differently as they’ve had a VERY hard time before coming to you. And it shows how hard leaving your country can be. Especially the journey, which I now know has sometimes resulted in young kids taking their lives and death.
October 13, 2024
Just beautiful.
Bought as something of an indulgent treat, from a small independent bookshop, to celebrate Independent Book Day. I always think it is a shame that poetry books seem disproportionately expensive compared to fiction and other non-fiction, because it dissuades one from buying them so much of the time.
The observations are acute and poignant and take one deep into the thoughts and feelings of those displaced, very moving.
Bought as something of an indulgent treat, from a small independent bookshop, to celebrate Independent Book Day. I always think it is a shame that poetry books seem disproportionately expensive compared to fiction and other non-fiction, because it dissuades one from buying them so much of the time.
The observations are acute and poignant and take one deep into the thoughts and feelings of those displaced, very moving.
March 18, 2024
I sadly didn't think much of this book, but not because the poems weren't good because some of them really were. I think it's just how short it is, and how little poetry there actually is. The poems themselves are full of style and substance and are really very thought-provoking, but I feel like this could have been longer with more poems in it.
March 23, 2024
I didn't think this 'book' was bad I just didn't think there was enough of it to quantify any response as a reader. If it was a hundred page + collection of poems on the same topic I would most likely have a different opinion. Especially as the writing was done well and what was there was effective and thought provoking.
April 13, 2024
This just didn't work for me, sadly. There were some interesting little glimmers, but not enough was done with those moments to build anything of substance.
I did like some of the art - this was nominated for the Carnegie for writing, but I'm surprised it wasn't nominated for illustration. I think the images will stay with me more than any of the text.
I did like some of the art - this was nominated for the Carnegie for writing, but I'm surprised it wasn't nominated for illustration. I think the images will stay with me more than any of the text.
April 24, 2024
This was a powerful and moving read. It's been shortlisted for this year's Carnegie Book Award and we are reading all the shortlist with our school book club. This one was a very short read but gave me a lot to think about. It will be one that I remember for a long time.
June 17, 2023
Absolutely, heartbreakingly stunning. Images that are haunting and poems that will make you weep with frustration but also glimmers of hope throughout.
Just gorgeous
Just gorgeous
March 15, 2024
So poignant, so real, so heartbreaking.
March 21, 2024
Absolutely beautiful
April 2, 2024
4.5⭐️
Reading Carnegie shortlist 2024 books.
Reading Carnegie shortlist 2024 books.
April 4, 2024
Heartbreaking, powerful and unforgettable. Reading this through tears for Yoto Carnegie 2024 and I am certain it will be a moving but popular choice for my school book group. A must read.
April 16, 2024
Nice art. Not my thing.
April 23, 2024
The poems in this book are really good, don't get me wrong. I felt that it was too short. It felt like I couldn't feel the emotions that many felt because of its length.
April 25, 2024
Such a poignant and elegantly woven book! I loved studying the illustrations linking to each poem, definitely recommend.
April 25, 2024
A moving and beautiful collection of a few short poems.
April 26, 2024
Beautifully poignant. Stunning illustrations. Great for children and adults alike to remember the personal aspect of refugee and asylum seeker stories.
May 9, 2024
An interesting collection that I will definitely pick from to share with students at school.
May 12, 2024
What a beautiful collection of poems depicting a refugees journey into the UK. Very heartfelt and emotive.
Part of the Carnegie shortlist 2024
Part of the Carnegie shortlist 2024
May 13, 2024
Very short but very powerful poems based on true stories of refugees.
May 15, 2024
Great themes, but I find poetry difficult to read
May 25, 2024
A beautiful collection of poetry and art about immigration, which should have a place on everyone's bookshelf.
June 4, 2024
A really powerful collection of poems which really makes you think about the ongoing refugee crisis. Read as part of the YOTO Carnegie awards shortlist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews