Review by Booklist Review
Distinguished Caldecott Medal-winning author-illustrator Shulevitz creates an arresting and affecting memoir of terrible privation that focuses on his life from 1939, when he was 4, to 1949, when he turned 14. His story begins in Warsaw with a German air raid, of which he writes, "The distance between life and death had vanished." To put distance between themselves and war, his Jewish family--his mother, father, and himself--flee to the small town of Bialystock in Belarus. Their life there becomes increasingly difficult, for they have no Russian passports, and they are ultimately transported to Settlement Yura in the Russian Republic of the Soviet Union. In 1942, they begin another journey, this time to the small town of Turkestan in the Kazakh Republic, where his family lives for three long years in a state of near starvation. There is much more to his story, but two things remain his salvation: his lifelong love of stories and his passion for drawing, both of which have stood him in such good stead in his subsequent creative life. The book's spare, straightforward text is liberally illustrated with Shulevitz's black-and-white Expressionist-style drawings plus the occasional photograph that has survived the war. Together, the images brilliantly capture the often-somber story of Shulevitz's early life, which he ultimately survived, as he says, by chance.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This searing, evocative memoir chronicles the wartime experiences of Caldecott Medalist Shulevitz, whose family fled 1939 Warsaw to avoid persecution when he was four years old, only to suffer starvation and other tribulations in the Soviet Union, Poland, and Germany before eventually settling in Paris. The spare, keenly observed narrative offers a harrowing look at a Jewish family's plight during WWII while documenting the birth of an artist with a great capacity for creativity: Shulevitz draws stick figures in profile before the war, sketches "with my finger in the air" to distract himself from hunger in Turkestan, and hones his craft to win a citywide drawing competition in Paris. Stark and powerful black-and-white drawings by the author underscore gritty realities: people forced to carry water after Nazi planes bomb Warsaw, tension and fear in a truck bound for Białystok, confrontations with Soviet officials, and a crowded bed the family inhabits in a settlement work camp. This affecting memoir of Shulevitz's childhood as a war refugee provides a deeply personal testament to the power of art. Ages 8--14. (Oct.)■
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--6--In September 1939, when German bombs started falling on Warsaw, four-year-old Shulevitz's life would change forever. With his Jewish family, Uri fled Poland to the Soviet Union toward a slightly less dangerous but still far from safe life. In this memoir, Shulevitz remembers his childhood as a refugee experiencing constant hunger and fear. Eight years would pass with Uri and his family on the edge of survival. Fred Berman offers a sympathetic voice for Shulevitz's memory. Though this story is powerful as an audiobook, the print version of this book offers such a visual experience through illustrations that it is best to listen to the audio alongside the print book. It is important to share this story with students for them to understand history through the eyes of a child their own age. VERDICT A definite purchase for any audiobook collection in a school or public library.--Betsy Davison, formerly at Homer Central H.S., NY
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Review by Horn Book Review
Shulevitz was just four when the Nazis invaded Poland in September of 1939, forcing his family members to flee their homeland. Thus began nearly a decade of displacement, discrimination, and hunger, as the Jewish refugee family endured the horrors of war and a tenuous peace, moving to northern Russia, Turkestan, back to Poland, and then to Germany, before settling in Paris in 1947. Despite their often-illegal status, the boy's parents tried to scrape together a living, working any jobs they could find. Throughout the moves and various illnesses associated with subsistence living, young Uri was sustained by his mother's stories and his greatest pleasure and solace -- his near-obsessive love of drawing. This memoir, Shulevitz's (Caldecott Medalist for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship and three-time Honoree) first foray beyond the picture-book format, is heavily illustrated with the artist's lively and expressive grayscale renderings (and occasional black-and-white photographs), punctuating and illuminating some of the most poignant and emotional moments in the narrative. In a number of sections, he enhances the storytelling via a series of dramatic graphic panels. Though touching on many dark and serious topics, this story is totally focused on the fears, triumphs, and sensibilities of a child. It is truly a portrait of an artist as a young man thrust into a maelstrom of a world gone mad and relying on chance to decide his fate. This thoroughly engrossing memoir will sit comfortably on a shelf with Peter Sis's The Wall (rev. 9/07) and Allen Say's Drawing from Memory (rev. 9/11). Luann Toth November/December 2020 p.133(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The award-winning author and illustrator recounts his harrowing childhood as a Polish Jew during World War II. When the Germans invade Poland in 1939, 4-year-old Uri and his parents flee from Warsaw to Soviet-occupied Bialystok, where they are considered enemies of Soviet Russia and denied citizenship. First sent to the Archangel region, after the Germans invade Russia they travel to Turkestan in the Central Asian Kazakh Republic, where, as a 7-year-old, Uri wonders at a way of life that is completely unfamiliar. Shulevitz shares experiences of hunger, deprivation, and anti-Semitism while living in makeshift abodes and tiny apartments and enduring endless train rides. What sustains him are his mother's storytelling, which instills in him an enduring passion for stories, and drawing to pass the endless hours. Drawing allows him to escape into his imagination and ward off loneliness. The first-person narrative, which continues through his teen years in Paris, is inviting and filled with absorbing details of everyday life, from playing games to facing bullies and fearsome dogs. The many illustrations--scary, imaginative, and humorous--are a brilliant accompaniment to the text, bringing into sharp focus stark images of civilians caught up in war. Despite the horrors, however, there is a strong sense of intimacy between the author and his readers. Fans of his many books will appreciate the references to One Monday Morning (1967) and How I Learned Geography (2008). A memorable journey of survival and artistry. (photographs) (Memoir. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
