Higher than the Mountains and Deeper than the Sea

Grandpa Monji tells his granddaughter and grandson the story of how he, a Tunisian, ended up in Belgium. As a little boy, he lost his mother, and was placed in a foster home, together with his big brother. When he was a young man, he seized the chance to go and work with some friends in northern France for six months, where he fell in love with a Belgian woman and decided to stay in Belgium.

In this warm story, the young reader learns about another time, a time when people moved thousands of kilometres for work, and a marriage between a Belgian woman and an ‘outsider’ encountered a great deal of suspicion. The children in the frame story ask questions that children of all backgrounds will be keen to hear the answers to. This is a story that will trigger a great sense of recognition for children and grandchildren of migrants.

A sensitive book about respect, with a dash of humour. Laura Janssens captures the story in inventive compositions, with expressive drawings in her beautiful colour palette.