Review: Bear and Fred: A World War II Story
Bear and Fred: A World War II Story by Iris Argaman, illustrated by Avi Ofer, translated by Annette Appel Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Karin Fisher-Golton Buy at Bookshop.org I keep an eye out for books that inform children about the Holocaust and can engage their emotions without overwhelming them (which can lead to numbing out). Bear and Fred: A World War II Story is one such book. It is based on the true story of a teddy bear that belonged to a boy named Fred Lessing. Decades after he survived the Holocaust, Mr. Lessing generously gifted the bear to Yad Vashem’s museum. Captivated by their story, author Iris Argaman wrote this picture book in Hebrew, and Annette Appel translated it into the English version I review here. Told from the bear’s point of view, Bear and Fred follows the two titular characters as Fred’s family must abruptly leave their home in Delft, Holland and Fred spends the rest of the war in hiding, separated from his family. Ultimately Fred’s family reunites...