reviewed -Joanna

I'm so glad I chose this short book for the family to listen to on a recent car trip. It handled the very difficult subject matter of the holocaust sensitively, ending on a hopeful note. There were beautiful lessons in this story. I thought it was very appropriate for older elementary aged kids. ( )

Bio

In 2000, the director of the newly-established Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center received a few artifacts belonging to children in response to appeals to museums around the world. One of the precious few artifacts loaned to her was a suitcase from Auschwitz with a polka dot lining and marked with the name Hanna Brady.

The director, Fumiko, and the center children wanted to know more about Hana. Where was she from? What did she look like? Did she survive the Holocaust? Fumiko wrote letters, made phone calls, and even traveled to Europe to find information.

By reassembling Hana’s life and recovering Hana’s voice, Fumiko and the center children have allowed her to speak to new generations of children to foster tolerance and peace so that the evils of the Holocaust will not be repeated. This book extends the center’s reach far beyond Tokyo, as all who read it will be inspired by Fumiko and the children she teaches as well as by Hana’s story. ( )

This is a true story in which Fumiko Ishioka, the director of the Tokyo Education Resource Center in Tokyo, Japan, reaches out to museums for artifacts with which to teach Japanese children about the Holocaust. After much effort, she was given a package of items, of which one, a suitcase which had belonged to Hana Brady, a Czechoslovakian child murdered by the Nazis, motivated her to teach others about the Holocaust by breaking the experience down to just one individual and searching for more information about her.

This book is written for school-age children, but it is well worth reading by any adult. I was surprised that anyone in Japan with their own suffering during World War II would put so much effort into learning about a Jewish child in Europe. However, the theme is the importance of learning about others who differ from ourselves culturally and seeking the human and decent things about them-- thereby learning how we are all more alike than different.

The book not only tells Hana's story well, but it provides photographs to bring it alive and much closer to to hearts of those who read it. It’s beautifully done. ( )