Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
Koinonia Farm is excited to expand their children’s book selection with the addition of Dreamers by Caldecott Honor artist Yuyi Morales. Dreamers tells the story of Yuyi and her infant son Kelly as they immigrated to the United States and discover the magic of the public library in the midst of their unfamiliar surroundings.
The publisher describes Dreamers as “a celebration of what migrantes bring with them when they leave their homes. It’s a story about family. And it’s a story to remind us that we are all dreamers, bringing our own gifts wherever we roam. Beautiful and powerful at any time but given particular urgency as the status of our own Dreamers becomes uncertain, this is a story that is both topical and timeless.”
In an essay at the end of the picture book, Morales writes, “All of us have stories. Each of them is different. This story began in 1994, when I crossed a bridge with my two-month-old son, Kelly from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas–and though I did not know it at the time, to a new life in a strange and unfamiliar place, the United States of America. … Kelly and I were Dreamers in the sense that all immigrants, regardless of our status, are Dreamers: we enter a new country carried by hopes and dreams, and carrying our own special gifts, to build a better future. … Now I have told you my story. What’s yours?”
At Koinonia Farm, part of our story and vision is to respond the needs and challenges of our present day with the foundation of love through service to others, joy through generous hospitality, and peace through reconciliation. Hospitality Beyond Borders is our ministry to immigrants and those in prisons such as nearby Stewart Detention Center. With your support and donations, we are able to give men being deported with a backpack filled with clothing. We are also able to host at Koinonia families who are travelling to visit their loved ones at Stewart Detention Center. Your donations provide rooms and meals for these families.
You have two different opportunities to be a part of this story along with Koinonia. You can donate a backpack or several filled with clothing for $75 each. These backpacks can be given in honor or memory of a loved one and we can provide a certificate acknowledging your donation. You can also donate to Hospitality Beyond Borders and we will use these funds to continue all the aspects of this ministry – backpacks and clothing, hosting families, visiting and corresponding with people in prison, and more.