Gripping and intense.
In 1940 Aube and her parents, a French poet and a painter, were on the run from the Nazis in occupied France, until they were rescued and given temporary refuge in the Villa Air-Bel in Vichy France.
The Nazis were rounding up and deporting Jews, intellectuals, journalists, writers, artists, and anyone suspected of anti-Nazi activities. Varian Fry, an American journalist, and his French assistant, Danny Bénédite, had established a clandestine organization that arranged escapes. In Villa Air-Bel, Aube’s family and the likes of Max Ernst, Victor Serge, and Marc Chagall were kept safe while arrangements were made to smuggle them out of France. The childlike third-person narration describes the various subterfuges: a hidden radio, smuggling outgoing messages in toothpaste tubes, even a concealed cow—all secrets that must be kept to ensure their safety and the success of the mission. Young Aube must also find her own hiding place and practice using it. But there is also a great deal of laughter, games, and music to keep up their spirits and fight against fear. Strauss, Bénédite’s great-great-niece, recounts the events from Aube’s innocent, hopeful point of view, employing a matter-of-fact tone and placing the historical events in a context that young readers might grasp. Leonhard’s softly drawn, purple-hued illustrations perfectly capture Aube’s emotions. Endnotes verify the events with facts, photos, and biographical information.
Gripping and intense. (Picture book. 7-11)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2265-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola’s autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences. Writing in an authentically childlike voice, he describes watching the new house his father was building go up despite a succession of disasters, from a brush fire to the hurricane of 1938. Meanwhile, he also introduces family, friends, and neighbors, adds Nana Fall River to his already well-known Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, remembers his first day of school (“ ‘ When do we learn to read?’ I asked. ‘Oh, we don’t learn how to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade.’ ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back next year.’ And I walked right out of school.”), recalls holidays, and explains his indignation when the plot of Disney’s “Snow White” doesn’t match the story he knows. Generously illustrated with vignettes and larger scenes, this cheery, well-knit narrative proves that an old dog can learn new tricks, and learn them surpassingly well. (Autobiography. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23246-X
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999
A lot of information is packed into this picture-book biography. Sojourner, originally named Isabella, was a Dutch-speaking child born into slavery. Details about her life in slavery, when she was purchased by an English-speaking master, her marriage to a man selected by her master, the birth and loss of her children, and the events leading up to her transformation to an advocate for freedom, are recounted with passion. Rockwell (Career Day, p. 720, etc.) adds an author’s note explaining her motivation for writing this biography and cites Sojourner’s autobiography as her most helpful source. Additional information includes data about the subject’s life beyond the events chronicled and a timeline. The book is written in serial style, with a cliffhanger phrase at the end of each page. Coretta Scott King Honor Award winner Christie’s (The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children, 1996) primitive-style illustrations are striking. Oversized, mask-like heads, often fierce and foreboding, dominate many of the drawings. Earth-toned colors predominate in the stark depiction of Sojourner’s early life and the slave owners who mistreated her, but her strength shines through in all the illustrations. An excellent addition to the biography shelf as a compelling story of an extraordinary woman, as well as for its pertinence to school assignments. (Picture book/biography. 7-10)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-679-89186-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2000
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