Gruffalo illustrator and UN Refugee Agency line up to praise Chris’s moving suitcase tale

A stranger arrives carrying a battered suitcase to be greeted first with curiosity and then suspicion by a group of animal friends. But as they learn more about the new arrival, their emotions changes from fear to empathy in the simple but touching plot of Chris Naylor-Ballesteros’s new book, The Suitcase.

Chris, 47, grew up in Bradford and studied illustration and graphic design at Bradford College of Art but has been living in France for the past 19 years with his wife. But the father-of-two will be back in Yorkshire next week for a whistle-stop book tour visiting Ilkley, Saltaire, Bradford and Leeds on Tuesday, June 18, with readings and book signings timed to tie in with National Refugee Week.

The Suitcase is the third children’s book written by the former English teacher and graphic designer, who lives in Limoges, with his new work winning praise from the likes of Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, the UN Refugee Agency and renowned author Khaled Hosseini.

Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, said the book is timely. “At a time when over 65 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, this beautifully illustrated and wise, gently tale of tolerance and kindness for fellow humans resonates deeply. I hope all parents share The Suitcase with their children.”

Scheffler described the book as “a simple, powerful way to introduce the idea of kindness to strangers to young children”.

Chris, who has only become a full-time author in recent years, says he has been stunned by the reception.

“It is incredible to be honest that these people have seen it, they like it and have supported the things that are in it,” he says. “As an illustrator, to have someone like Axel Scheffler’s support is just unbelievable.”

He says that after his first two light-hearted children’s books, I’m Going to Eat This Ant and I Love You, Stick Insect, he initially struggled to find an idea for his third for a while.

“The idea that presented itself to me was this lost person with a suitcase,” Chris explains.

“I thought there is something in that and I’m going to try and follow that.

“You can have lots of ideas but lots don’t work – an idea doesn’t necessarily become a story. It could easily be interpreted as being about a refugee but it doesn’t have to be – it could be a new child arriving at a school – it is anybody who arrives in a situation and disturbs the status quo.”

“It is a very simple story about empathy and putting yourself in other people’s shoes.

“It is about trust – people can’t always prove where they are from. Part of the story is the different reactions of the other three characters.

“I wanted to get across to children that nobody is the big hero, every one has doubts and fears and it is ok to acknowledge that. You can’t deny the fact that change can be scary.

“Political discussion has moved to the right in recent years and there is a lot of anti-immigration sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic.

“There needs to be some empathy and trust and forward thinking.”

Chris’ children are now 15 and 12 but he first began writing and illustrating for them around a decade ago, creating a book about a little girl and a monster.

Although the book didn’t get published, he did get an agent from it and around four years ago, I’m Going to Eat This Ant – about a starving anteater and a sneaky ant – found a publisher.

He said it was a great privilege to hold the finished book in his hands after the hard process of creating it.

“It is an idea that you have had in isolation for a long time, then you work in conjunction with the publisher and agent and it is a long process so to finally see it in print is incredible. At the same time, you can’t help but think, this is going to be the moment I spot a misplaced apostrophe!”

Chris has recently signed a deal to write three more children’s books for publisher Nosy Crow and says he is looking forward to reading The Suitcase to young audiences in Yorkshire and seeing their reactions to it.

“When you get a quiet pause at a moving or surprising and then a laugh at something, you think – ‘that is why I made this book’.”