Hassan has just moved from Somalia to Britain, and all the colour has gone out of his world. This new place is cold and damp, and the family's flat is drab. At school he knows no one, and his English is almost non-existant. When, on his first afternoon, he paints a picture full of colour of his old home and family, his teacher thinks it is lovely, until he paints over his uncle after adding a figure with a gun. Miss Kelly, disturbed by the violence of the picture, brings in Fela to translate for Hassan and learns the truth about his family's flight from Somalia. After he has talked it through, Hassan paints another, happier picture, which he can take home for his family to hang on the wall, and he once again begins to see colour in his life. Colour is tremendously important in this book. Great splashes of it abound in the wonderful illustrations, colours which express both sadness and joy, fear and acceptance. An excellent book for schools and home alike.