The topic of this book is one that is in a sense ironic as it is a few days after July 4th, where America celebrates it's continued freedom from the clutches of British rule, to be ruled by their own government, and to become their own free country just like that of many other great countries. This book is about the Holocaust, given through the eyes of children who lived it.Author Susan Heagy has given us, the readers, a very unique opportunity to learn about the Holocaust, by actually interviewing survivors, children who grew up during those rough, terrible times, who have had to live with the consequences of being of the Jewish faith during the reign of a tyrant who planned to take over the world. Though the actual characters in this story are fictional, her historical fiction novel is written in terms younger children may read and understand it clearly.
Many of us are lucky enough to know at least one Great Grandparent, while we were growing up, not everyone, but many. They are a gift of the past given to us to learn from and to know and to love. My own children have had the wonderful blessing to know their 2 Great Grandmother's, before they passed on. Both of which were greatly affected by the wars, the great depression, military life, loosing of loved one's especially husbands and other such trials they had to live through. But my children loved hearing their stories. It brought the history of the USA into a more personal account and importance to us all. In "Why is Great-Grandma so Sad?", a little girl is now old enough to see and question why her Great Grandmother is sad all the time, or has a sad demeanor about her. As the little girls' mother sits down to tell her the story behind the sadness, she has to figure out a way to tell it so her 7 year old daughter understands. What is revealed is a story of a young girl who is forced to leave her home with her family and move to a ghetto, then later to a concentration camp all under the rule of the Natzi army. This Jewish refugee family has little to no food, must learn to survive bitter cold, and even as a child growing up from 7-11 before she is set free from the Natzi rule, she too must do her part to survive, to live, to stay alive.
We learn just how important family is and why it is also important to learn about our past, so we may better be grateful for our present, and so we may better change our future.
I honestly love this little book! The art is wonderful, very stylized in a beautiful way that fully compliments the story. At the back of the book, Susan Heagy gives us a few nuggets of gold in the form of actual survivor witnesses of their personal accounts of the Holocaust. As a teacher in elementary school, I can see this book being a great resource for children to use during the time we study the Holocaust.
The author has given me the following information, that I feel inclined to share. Each purchase of this book supports the Holocaust Survivors. Please visit www.ahi-il.org/donate for more information.
To comply with the Federal Trade Commision's regulations, I must mention as part of every review because of BookCrash, that the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of the book, through BookCrash, in exchange for an honest non biased review.
