A World Full of Journeys and Migration by Martin Howard

8th February 2022

To celebrate the publication of Quarto’s newest book in the best-selling ‘World Full of…’ series of lavishly illustrated anthologies, author Martin Howard has popped by the Tiny TripFiction blog to give us a fascinating insight into the history, and future, of human migration – from how the Indian curry became a classic British dish to how today’s pop music has its roots in the blues sung by African slaves forced from their homes.

A World Full of Journeys & Migrations, written by Martin Howard and strikingly illustrated by Christopher Corr, is out now!

You might think that you belong somewhere: a home where your family has lived for generations. But unless you are one of a tiny handful of people living in Africa where the human story began then you – along with almost every other person on the planet – are the descendant of migrants. From the earliest human times when the first humans left Africa to settle in what we now call the Middle East we have spread around the globe. Every one of us either travellers ourselves or the children or grand-children of travellers.

Along the way we have mingled blood, ideas, stories, talents, cuisines and music to the point where it has become impossible to untangle where one culture ends and another begins. Italian pasta isn’t Italian at all. The ancestor of spaghetti is the Chinese noodle carried along the great Silk Road along with rare fabrics and the spices that have became staples of European cuisine. Do you think spicy, chilli-flavoured dishes are an Indian tradition? No. Chillis were unknown in India until they arrived with the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama at the end of the fifteenth century. The Indians found new an exciting ways to use them in their food. Later, British colonials loved these dishes so much they brought them back to their home country. The first Indian recipes could be found in British cookbooks as long ago as 1747. When the Indian Sake Dean Mahomed opened Britain’s first curry house in 1810 he found a ready market. Today the curry has become a classic British dish and is a tasty mixture of flavours from South America, Asia and Europe.

Everywhere you look you will find ways that journeys have changed the world. The patterns of Ancient Rome engineering, city-building and law can still be found embedded across Europe as they have been since the Romans imposed their culture on the mighty empire they conquered. Of course, European travellers and migrants later spread those Roman ideas even further. Architecture, fashions and inventions in technology and entertainment that we now think of as American were brought to the country by people fleeing persecution in Europe and Russia, or hunger in Ireland. Today’s pop music has its roots in the blues sung by African slaves forced from their homes and itself a mixture of African rhythms, European folk songs and hymns.

Human migration is an unstoppable tide that ebbs and flows around the planet, often driven by the need to find a better life, sometimes by war and conquest and sometimes by the thirst to find new vistas. Such journeys have not always been peaceful or happy but writing this book gave me a fresh insight into the importance of keeping the movement of people in perspective. Since the earliest times it has never stopped and there is no reason to think it ever will. Journeys are a part of who we are. Evidence of human travel can be found all around us, in the clothes that we wear (the Indians also gave us pyjamas), the stories we tell, the music we hear and the food we eat. It is even written in our DNA. As so many people trace their roots with modern methods are finding out, none of us would be who we are without travelling ancestors.

At a time when there is as much concern surrounding human migration as there has ever been I believe it is important for children to learn that humans have been making these journeys since the beginning of our history, and what we have discovered, shared and learned from each other along the way has built the world as we know it today, in countless ways – both small and world-changing. Even if – like me, a Brit living in France – it’s something as simple as sharing a traditional full English breakfast with slightly bewildered new neighbours the travellers among us bring new experiences and broaden our horizons. If we can learn from the mistakes of our ancestors and travel in peace, respecting each other then – as has always been the case – travel brings new riches to all our lives.

About the creators

Martin Howard is the author of many titles for both adults and children, including the hugely successful Bad Dog’s Diary series and The Wickedest Witch. He lives in France with his family. Find Martin on Twitter @MJHowardWrites.

Christopher Corr is an established author-illustrator whose many books have won him international acclaim. He studied at the Royal College of Art, and now lives and works in London as an artist and tutors at Goldsmiths University. Find him at christophercorr.com and on Instagram @christopher_corr.

A World Full of Journeys & Migrations, published by Quarto Books, is out now!

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