A hat viewed in the Jewish Museum sets off a string of questions about its owner by a narrator of indeterminate age. What was the woman like who wore the hat? “Did she put cream in her coffee?” “When the woman put on her hat, did she tip the brim just slightly?” These questions give way to more urgent ones: “I wonder if she wore it the day she left home the last time, that cold, cold day in Amsterdam—that cold cruel day in Amsterdam when the Jews were herded together and arrested in the Square.” Using the vehicle of the hat, the reader is made to realize both the particular, i.e. the characteristics of the individual who owned the hat and who perished, and the randomness of being singled out for death in a catastrophe such as the Holocaust. Although the vocabulary and spare text imply a very young reader, the events referred to presume some knowledge of the Holocaust, raising the issue of intended audience. Without some prior knowledge, the story would seem extremely abstract. Some of Platz’s drawings incorporate old photographs, bringing into sharp focus the human face of tragedy. An author’s note explains the origins of the story in a trip to the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam and the intention of the author in using photographs. An abbreviated chronology of the Holocaust is also appended, as if to provide the background needed to make sense of the text. A fine picture book to spark discussion among older readers. (Picture book. 10+)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-525-46999-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.
When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-12940-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S HISTORY
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PROFILES
Brimner focuses on the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and successfully illuminates in chronological order the events, social tensions and political reverberations of that terror-filled time. Beginning with personal information about each of the four girls killed in the blast, he then introduces powerful figures or groups, some not well known, on both sides of the Civil Rights Movement. They are brought to life with information gleaned from various primary sources including FBI reports, police surveillance files, court transcripts and oral-history accounts. Each victim of the bombing and each advocate emerges for readers through quotes, black-and-white photographs and engaging, descriptive prose. Sidebars provide related information about the Movement and augment the highly accessible text. On the final pages are profiles of those responsible for the brutal bombing and the justice they finally received. A standout book for its thorough research and comprehensive look at the incident that led to the 1964 passage of civil-rights legislation. (further reading, author’s note, source notes, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 10 & up)
Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-613-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HISTORY
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