Review by Booklist Review
It is not easy to tell young kids the horrifying truth about the Holocaust, but this picture book is a good place to start. Using the fictionalized viewpoint of a cat, Benno, it shows what happened to families in one Berlin community. Benno feels welcome in many homes and stores, and he likes following a Jewish girl, Sophie, and her Christian friend to school everyday. Then everything changes, and the neighborhood is no longer friendly. Benno cowers as terrifying men in brown shirts light bonfires, and then there is a night like no other, during which Benno hears screams and shattering glass, and he watches apartments being ravaged and the synagogue burn. The next day, life continues for some, but Benno never sees others again, including Sophie and her family. The unframed, double-page spreads, created with a mix of collage, drawings, and digital montage, show the warm neighborhood transformed as red flames take over, books fly, and soldiers march in black boots with razor-edged soles. A brief afterword and bibliography add more information and historical context.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Life seems good for neighborhood cat Benno. He has a warm bed, he's a welcome guest in homes and businesses, and there's neverending supply of tasty scraps. But Benno lives in 1930s Berlin and, gradually but inexorably, Nazism engulfs his cozy world. The Jewish and Gentile girls he has always escorted to school no longer walk together, the scraps dry up, and he must dodge the heavy boots of brown-shirted men who "strutted about with their heads held high." On Kristallnacht Benno cowers in fear as "the air filled with screams and shouts, sounds of shattering and splintering glass, and the bitter smell of smoke." Debuting talents Wiviott and Bisaillon have created a heart-wrenching account of the days that signaled the beginning of the Holocaust. Benno's inability to comprehend the hatred that erupts before him, his attempts to piece together the routines that once shaped his life, and his numbed capitulation to the new reality make him highly sympathetic. Bisaillon's illustrations are especially noteworthy: a mixture of collage, drawings, and digital montage, they movingly depict how a rich and seemingly resilient tapestry of human experiences was lost forever. Ages 7-11. (Mar.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Benno the cat compares the difference in life on Rosenstrasse in Berlin, before and after Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass). He notices the changes in behavior between Christian and Jew, the harsh behavior of the Nazis, and the damage to Jewish properties and removal of Jews from the area. Narrated by Susie Berneis, the book opens and closes with piano music. Liberal use of sound effects such as crackling fire, city traffic, and crashing glass add to the intensity and forward motion of the book. A double-edged sword, the sounds don't always align with the text (for example, at one point listeners hear fire crackling in the background instead of "sounds of people above") and are conspicuously missing when there is no background sound. Berneis's careful, slow reading pace reflects Benno's observing of his world as it changes. She quickens her pace and pitch slightly as the drama of the attack on Jews occurs, returning to an eerie calm of the new normal life after. VERDICT This work provides a gentle overview and entry to discuss the start of the Holocaust with children.-Stephanie Bange, Wright State University, Dayton, OH © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Benno the cat's life changes for the worse after the city's synagogue and stores are destroyed and many of his friends disappear. This depiction of Kristallnacht is affecting and the collage-like illustrations dramatic, but the book's audience is unclear. The treatment could supplement other more-detailed books on the event for older readers. An afterword is included. Reading list. Bib. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
