Findakly, Brigette and Lewis Trondheim. Poppies of Iraq. Drawn and Quarterly, 2017.

Poppies of Iraq is Brigitte Findakly’s nuanced tender chronicle of her relationship with her homeland Iraq, co-written and drawn by her husband, the acclaimed cartoonist Lewis Trondheim. In spare and elegant detail, they share memories of her middle class childhood touching on cultural practices, the education system, Saddam Hussein’s state control and her family’s history as Orthodox Christians in the Arab world.

Schmermund, Elizabeth. ISIS and the Yazidi Genocide in Iraq. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2018.

In 2014, many people saw images of members of the Yazidi ethno-religious group on television. They sought refuge from Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) militants in the mountains of northern Iraq. Since then, the genocide against the Yazidi minority group has continued. This book will teach students about Iraq and the Yazidis, as well as the violence the Yazidis have faced at the hands of ISIS. As the war against ISIS and the global refugee crisis continue, understanding the plight of the Yazidis in order to work against hatred and discrimination is more important than ever.

Wilkes, Sybella. Out of Iraq: Refugees’ Stories in Words, Paintings and Music. London: Evans, 2010.

Since 2006, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees have fled to other countries—particularly neighboring Syria and Jordan—where many of them are still waiting for the time when they feel it is safe to return home. This book provides, in words and pictures, what life was like in Iraq before they left, why they were forced to flee and how they feel about life as refugees. Their stories are set against background information about Iraq, Saddam Hussain’s rule, the invasion and the subsequent civil war.