Saturday, June 8, 2013

The Cats in Krasinki Square

The Cats in Krasinski Square

Author: Karen Hesse
Illustrator: Wendy Watson
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Year: 2004
Location: Personal Collection

Awards: Sydney Taylor Book Awards Honor Book 2004 Older Readers, ALA Notable Book for Children 2005

Summary: This is a book about a  Jewish girl living in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. The girl and her sister and friends use stray cats to trick the Nazi gestapo to smuggle food into the Ghetto. This book could be used with young children as a lesson in bravery.

Classroom Ideas: I used this book in my 5th grade classroom each year when teaching about World War II and the Nazis' treatment of other Europeans. The washed out colors of the illustrations perfectly convey the sadness of the time period without delving too deeply into the horrors of the Holocaust. The factual information in the afterward gives details about the true story that forms the basis for the book.

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