A Hero and the Holocaust - Hardcover

Adler, David A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0823415481 ISBN 13: 9780823415489

Publisher: Holiday House, 2002

Synopsis

A brief biography of the Polish doctor, author, founder of orphanages, and promoter of children's rights explains how he lost his life trying to protect his orphans from the Nazis.

About this title

About the Author:

David A. Adler is the author of the acclaimed Picture Book Biography series as well as other Judaica titles, including Child of the Warsaw Ghetto and Hiding from the Nazis, which, according to booklist, "humanizes the Holocaust statistics by focusing on a child's personal traumatic experience." He lives in New York State with his family.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-3-Adler tells the story of the Jewish author, doctor, and orphanage director. Throughout the book, Adler gives hints of the trouble brewing in Poland in the 1930s, without really making clear who the Nazis were or why they were seizing property and burning books. However, the main focus of the narrative is Korczak's relationship with the children he cared for. He is depicted as a kindly "Old Doctor" who allowed the children to draw on his bald head. He is unable, however, to protect them or himself from the invasion of Warsaw. The deportation of Korczak and the children, first to the Ghetto, and later to Treblinka, is described but not explained. Why have the children been sent here? Why is no one able to help them? Youngsters who have not studied the Holocaust may be confused and startled by the stark sentences about the camp: "But for Jews, there were no trains out of Treblinka. Janusz Korczak died there with his children." Farnsworth's paintings, beautifully realistic oils on linen, depict a dark world dominated by shades of gray and brown. Splashes of green and red-a bottle here, a scarf there-bring a sense of hope into the art that is not found in the text. The subject matter seems better suited to a longer book for older students than a means of introducing a horrific time in history to young children. This book would be useful as a supplement to other Holocaust materials, but on its own it is an additional purchase.
Martha Link, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0823415481
• ISBN 13: 9780823415489
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Farnsworth Bill