Jewish Book Council Starred Review!

Congratulations to artist Craig Orback and author Trudy Ludwig for the wonderful starred review from the Jewish Book Council for "Gifts from the Enemy". This a fantastic book- very worthy of great praise. Here is the review for all to see:

The issue is, how soon do we want to introduce the subject of the Holocaust to children and how? It seems younger and younger. The book under review is adapted from Alter Wiener’s autobiography: From a Name to a Number: A Holocaust Survivor’s Autobiography. The point of this story is that even among evil, one can sometimes find good. The good in this story is the German woman employed in cleaning the factory where the Jews provide slave labor, who brings the boy a sandwich which she hides in a waste can each day. What a righteous act! Using a minimum of text and vocabulary, mostly appropriate for readers ages 9–12 years, Wiener’s story is simplified and depends on the dramatic illustrations for their impact. The text starts out sparse and simple and becomes more ample and mature as the story progresses. The art is the story, however, and it is prize-worthy.