Holocaust history includes many instances of righteous individuals who risked their lives to hide or help Jews escape the Nazis’ annihilating evil. In occupied southern Paris, the Muslim community, descended from the French colonies of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, centered life around the Grand Mosque, a place of worship, culture, education and even health care. North African Jews living in the city maintained a neighborly relationship with their Muslim brothers, who shared physical attributes and similar cultures. These Jews could easily seek refuge at the Mosque, from which the Parisian Muslims who joined the French Resistance guided them to safety through an underground escape route. Although few documents remain, substantial evidence supports this fascinating and courageous story, notable as an example of the truly respectful and honorable rapport Muslims and Jews, living side by side, enjoyed for centuries. Realistic oil paintings complement the lengthy text, which celebrates a Muslim community whose selfless devotion to justice saved more than 1,000 lives. A must read for today’s multicultural curricula. (afterword, glossary, notes, bibliography, index) (Informational picture book. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2159-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
A pleasing new picture book looks at George Washington’s career through an agricultural lens. Sprinkling excerpts from his letters and diaries throughout to allow its subject to speak in his own voice, the narrative makes a convincing case for Washington’s place as the nation’s First Farmer. His innovations, in addition to applying the scientific method to compost, include a combination plow-tiller-harrow, the popularization of the mule and a two-level barn that put horses to work at threshing grain in any weather. Thomas integrates Washington’s military and political adventures into her account, making clear that it was his frustration as a farmer that caused him to join the revolutionary cause. Lane’s oil illustrations, while sometimes stiff, appropriately portray a man who was happiest when working the land. Backmatter includes a timeline, author’s notes on both Mount Vernon and Washington the slaveholder, resources for further exploration and a bibliography. (Picture book/biography. 8-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59078-460-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author of Cod’s Tale (2001) again demonstrates a dab hand at recasting his adult work for a younger audience. Here the topic is salt, “the only rock eaten by human beings,” and, as he engrossingly demonstrates, “the object of wars and revolutions” throughout recorded history and before. Between his opening disquisition on its chemical composition and a closing timeline, he explores salt’s sources and methods of extraction, its worldwide economic influences from prehistoric domestication of animals to Gandhi’s Salt March, its many uses as a preservative and industrial product, its culinary and even, as the source for words like “salary” and “salad,” its linguistic history. Along with lucid maps and diagrams, Schindler supplies detailed, sometimes fanciful scenes to go along, finishing with a view of young folk chowing down on orders of French fries as ghostly figures from history look on. Some of Kurlansky’s claims are exaggerated (the Erie and other canals were built to transport more than just salt, for instance), and there are no leads to further resources, but this salutary (in more ways than one) micro-history will have young readers lifting their shakers in tribute. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-399-23998-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
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