The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Hidden Hope: How A Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Amy June Bates Harry N. Abrams (imprint of Abrams Books), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel Simon   Buy at Bookshop.org   Hidden Hope: How A Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust tells the story of the brave Jewish teenager, Judith Geller, who posed as a Christian social worker in France. Using false papers as “Jacqueline Guither”, she was able to save many people by giving them forged papers made in secret workshops. One of the ways was through a simple toy: a wooden duck. When stopped by the Nazis, who would suspect a social worker visiting her “assigned” families with a toy? As part of the French Resistance, Jacqueline and others were able to save thousands of those in need of escape from the horrors going on, many of whom were in hiding. Though the book covers a difficult topic, it never becomes too dark for young readers. Elissa Boxer’s text is simple b...

Lesléa Newman and Amy June Bates received a Sydney Taylor Honor in the Picture Book category for Gittel's Journey . They are both past Sydney Taylor Book Award winners, having received the gold medal in 2016 for Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed . Lesléa also has quite a few Notable Books to her name:  Here Is the World in 2015, A Sweet Passover in 2013, Runaway Dreidel in 2002, and Fat Chance in 1994. Even more special, Lesléa was named a Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award winner this year for her overall contributions to the genre of Jewish children's literature. You can see past Body-of-Work Award winners here . Who else do you think would make a good Body-of-Work Award recipient? Today on the blog tour: Gittel's Journey on Mr. Schu Reads All the Authors and Illustrators on The Children's Book Podcast The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 9-13, 2020 Click here for full blog tour schedule