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BENNO AND THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS

Name: BENNO AND THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS
Author: Meg Wiviott
ISBN: 978-0-8225-9929-6

by Meg Wiviott & illustrated by Josée Bisaillon ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2010

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Benno the cat has it pretty good, with a nice warm bed by the furnace of a Berlin apartment building, fresh milk every night, scraps from Shabbat dinners at the Adlers’ apartment and Sunday lunches with the Schmidts. Visiting Moshe’s butcher shop provides more nourishment, while the sunny window of Mitzi Stein’s fabric shop serves perfectly for afternoon naps. But one day things change, when men in brown shirts defile the neighborhood with a book-burning in the center of the street followed by the smashing of store windows, looting and destruction of certain apartments and stores. These terribly frightening events change not only Benno’s secure, happy cat existence but become known as Kristallnacht, the beginning of the Holocaust. Bisaillon’s combination of collage, drawings and digital montage create a Cubist backdrop for this darkly portrayed story told with minimal details that keep strictly to the cat’s level of understanding—it’s up to readers and their grown-ups to fill in the gaps, aided by an afterword and bibliography that provide background to the topic and grist for discussion. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-8225-9929-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Kar-Ben

Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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THE NIGHT OF LAS POSADAS

by Tomie dePaola & illustrated by Tomie dePaola ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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A wondrous occurrence, an ancient tradition, and an elderly nun’s abiding faith are the basis of this moving Chirstmas tale from dePaola (26 Fairmount Avenue, p. 629, etc.). Sister Angie is overjoyed when her niece Lupe and her husband are selected to play Mary and Joseph—here, Maria and José—for Las Posadas, the reenactment of the journey into Bethlehem. When Sister Angie becomes ill and Lupe and Roberto become stranded in a heavy snowstorm, it seems as if the celebration will be delayed. However, a couple arrives just in time to take the place of the missing players. The whole village participates in the procession, from the singers who follow Mary and Joseph, to the “devils” who attempt to prevent the weary travelers from finding lodging. After several rebuffs, the couple arrives at the gates of the courtyard; these open and the entire assembly enters to celebrate. When Lupe and Roberto finally show up, the other couple is nowhere to be found. The story takes a supernatural twist when Sister Angie discovers that the figures in the church’s manger scene have come to life, temporarily, for the procession. The mysteries and miracles of the season are kept at bay; this simple narrative spells everything out, resulting in a primer on the tradition. Richly hued, luminescent illustrations radiate from the pages; an introduction and author’s note provide additional information. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-399-23400-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
WINGS
by Cheryl B. Klein ; illustrated by Tomie dePaola

- BOOK REVIEW
THE POPCORN BOOK
by Tomie dePaola ; illustrated by Tomie dePaola

- BOOK REVIEW
QUIET
by Tomie dePaola ; illustrated by Tomie dePaola

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SUNDAY WEEK

by Dinah Johnson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Johnson (All Around Town, 1998) sketches out the activities for the six days leading up to Sunday. Monday is reserved for the blues, Tuesday for double Dutch workouts, Wednesday for choir practice, Thursday for reading with Miss Augusta (“books filled with magic words. We can taste them and hear them and fashion them—speak words written and said long ago to make today and tomorrow our own”), Friday—“Finally Friday,”—with its fish and hush puppies, and workday Saturday. Then comes Sunday at the Lovely Hill Baptist Church, and displays of fashion, toe-tapping music, gathering, and feasting. The spirituality in these pages is caring and inclusive, so no one is a stranger here; Geter’s pastels are studied and a little self-conscious, but as warm as the biscuits served at Sunday dinner. (Picture book. 6-9)