| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in The Cats in Krasinski Square for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
Beautifully produced with large cream coloured pages and framed illustrations in appropriately subdued but luminous tones, reflecting the mix of hope and despair in the text. This poignant and subtly illustrated picture book would be a thought provoking addition to KS2 libraries. (School Library Journal )
Newbery Medallist Karen Hesse has written a beautiful story about the courage of brave young women and men who, at great risk, fought not with weapons, but with their hearts and souls. Wendy Watson's luminous paintings inspire a visual journey to a time and place that should never be forgotten. (www.bettybookmark.co.uk )
This is a poignant picture book for key stage 2 pupils and makes a serious subject accessible and human. (English 4-11 )
Newbery Medallist Karen Hesse has written a beautiful story about the courage of brave young women and men who, at great risk, fought not with weapons, but with their hearts and souls. Wendy Watson's luminous paintings inspire a visual journey to a time and place that should never be forgotten. (www.bettybookmark.co.uk )
This is a poignant picture book for key stage 2 pupils and makes a serious subject accessible and human. (English 4-11 )
Product Description
The cats in Krasinski Square once belonged to someone… and so did a young girl, whose family has been destroyed by war. Even as she and her sister struggle to survive amid the war's chaos, they risk their lives for a plan to help those still trapped behind Warsaw's infamous Ghetto walls.
Newbery Medallist Karen Hesse has written a beautiful story about the courage of brave young women and men who, at great risk, fought not with weapons, but with their hearts and souls. Wendy Watson's luminous paintings inspire a visual journey to a time and place that should never be forgotten.
Newbery Medallist Karen Hesse has written a beautiful story about the courage of brave young women and men who, at great risk, fought not with weapons, but with their hearts and souls. Wendy Watson's luminous paintings inspire a visual journey to a time and place that should never be forgotten.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
The cats come from the cracks in the Wall, the dark corners, the openings in the rubble. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Excerpt | Back Cover
The cats come from the cracks in the Wall, the dark corners, the openings in the rubble. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
21 reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Cat rescues
10 Mar 2005
Format:Hardcover
I've always been a bit skittish about fictionalizing events from WWII in children's picture books. When done well (as with Roberto Innocenti's, "Rose Blanche") it can be a heartfelt way of teaching children about horrific events. When done poorly (as with Carmen Agra Deedy's magnificently insulting/patronizing, "The Yellow Star") it can turn you off of historical picture book fiction completely. Now in the case of Karen Hesse's, "The Cats In Krasinski Square", the story is based on real events the author read in a short article. After researching the event and meticulously making sure she would cite what she changed and what she didn't, Hesse wrote this one-of-a-kind book. It tells the tale of a Jewish girl during WWII and the ways in which stray cats became heroes in their own right.
A girl sits on a heap of rubble surrounded by cats. It's Warsaw and the girl has escaped the Jewish ghetto to live hidden in plain sight with her sister. So many Jews had to leave their homes and abandon their pets, that the cats have no one to love them anymore. Says the girl, " `I have no food to spare'. The cats don't care". She loves them and that's all that they need at this time. Heading home again, the girl and her older sister are to participate in a plan to smuggle food to the people of the ghetto. Yet before they do they're told that the supplies coming in on the next train are in danger. Somehow the Gestapo have discovered the plan and are waiting with dogs at the station to sniff out the smugglers. It's the little girl who comes up with a way to lead the dogs astray and give the smugglers the chance they'll need to escape. And all thanks to a basketload of cats.
As an author, Hesse is probably better known for her verse novels than her picture books. But her ability to switch formats puts her at no disadvantage. The words in this book are simple and laid out plainly for children to read on their own. Though they say little, they convey the hope and resistance of a beaten-down people. The girl is never named, perhaps because she never existed. But much of this story is true, and the heroism involved is admirable. A tip of the hat as well to illustrator Wendy Watson. Through her subtle colors and shaded hues the story has the soft glow of the 1940s. Light splays out over the cats and buildings beautifully. Watson has obviously studied cat bodies and forms. She knows exactly how to draw a kitty arching its back in the hope of getting stroked or lifting its hind foot to scratch a hard to get itch. I loved the thick black lines that made up each and every scene, as well as the colors used. This is a book of grays, browns, maroons, and soft custard yellows. It's a pleasure to flip through again and again and again.
So as WWII picture books go, I think that this one is my favorite. It introduces the subject to children, giving an ample historical note at the back of the text for further reading but doesn't dwell on the darkest aspects of the time period. This is just an excellent way to begin a conversation with a child about the 1940s. It's lovely to look at and it contains adorable kitties. A beautiful addition to any library.
A girl sits on a heap of rubble surrounded by cats. It's Warsaw and the girl has escaped the Jewish ghetto to live hidden in plain sight with her sister. So many Jews had to leave their homes and abandon their pets, that the cats have no one to love them anymore. Says the girl, " `I have no food to spare'. The cats don't care". She loves them and that's all that they need at this time. Heading home again, the girl and her older sister are to participate in a plan to smuggle food to the people of the ghetto. Yet before they do they're told that the supplies coming in on the next train are in danger. Somehow the Gestapo have discovered the plan and are waiting with dogs at the station to sniff out the smugglers. It's the little girl who comes up with a way to lead the dogs astray and give the smugglers the chance they'll need to escape. And all thanks to a basketload of cats.
As an author, Hesse is probably better known for her verse novels than her picture books. But her ability to switch formats puts her at no disadvantage. The words in this book are simple and laid out plainly for children to read on their own. Though they say little, they convey the hope and resistance of a beaten-down people. The girl is never named, perhaps because she never existed. But much of this story is true, and the heroism involved is admirable. A tip of the hat as well to illustrator Wendy Watson. Through her subtle colors and shaded hues the story has the soft glow of the 1940s. Light splays out over the cats and buildings beautifully. Watson has obviously studied cat bodies and forms. She knows exactly how to draw a kitty arching its back in the hope of getting stroked or lifting its hind foot to scratch a hard to get itch. I loved the thick black lines that made up each and every scene, as well as the colors used. This is a book of grays, browns, maroons, and soft custard yellows. It's a pleasure to flip through again and again and again.
So as WWII picture books go, I think that this one is my favorite. It introduces the subject to children, giving an ample historical note at the back of the text for further reading but doesn't dwell on the darkest aspects of the time period. This is just an excellent way to begin a conversation with a child about the 1940s. It's lovely to look at and it contains adorable kitties. A beautiful addition to any library.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Award winner from the Association of Jewish Libraries!
26 Jan 2005
Format:Hardcover
This title was named a 2004 Sydney Taylor Honor Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
This is a lyrical story based on a little-known WWII incident, in which "cats [outfoxed] the Gestapo" in Warsaw. In Hesse's version, a girl who has escaped the Warsaw Ghetto befriends the lonely, ownerless cats in Krasinski Square. When her friends in the Resistance despair of getting food to friends behind the Ghetto wall, the girl suggests that they use the cats to distract the Nazi's dogs. The ensuing mayhem allows them to sneak the food into the Ghetto.
The book is beautifully crafted. Hesse's signature spare style and Watson's understated drawings create a Holocaust story with a light touch. An end note provides context, explaining the incident itself and WWII in general.
This is a book that older readers, familiar with the Holocaust and the story of the Warsaw Ghetto, will appreciate. It does NOT make an appropriate introduction to Holocaust history for those unfamiliar with the subject.
This is a lyrical story based on a little-known WWII incident, in which "cats [outfoxed] the Gestapo" in Warsaw. In Hesse's version, a girl who has escaped the Warsaw Ghetto befriends the lonely, ownerless cats in Krasinski Square. When her friends in the Resistance despair of getting food to friends behind the Ghetto wall, the girl suggests that they use the cats to distract the Nazi's dogs. The ensuing mayhem allows them to sneak the food into the Ghetto.
The book is beautifully crafted. Hesse's signature spare style and Watson's understated drawings create a Holocaust story with a light touch. An end note provides context, explaining the incident itself and WWII in general.
This is a book that older readers, familiar with the Holocaust and the story of the Warsaw Ghetto, will appreciate. It does NOT make an appropriate introduction to Holocaust history for those unfamiliar with the subject.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A story to share
14 Oct 2004
Format:Hardcover
Writing for children about the Holocaust takes a special gift. It can be difficult to communicate the horror of those years to young readers without delving into atrocities and concentration camps. Gifted writer Karen Hesse has brought us a true story that can be shared in picture book form.
The opening lines of the story set the scene, "The cats come from the cracks in the Wall, the dark corners, the openings in the rubble." The "Wall" is the wall around the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1939, the German Gestapo crowded Jews into this area of the city where the horrible conditions caused starvation, disease and death.
The young narrator of the story has escaped the ghetto and is "passing" as an Aryan on the other side of the wall. She fears for her friend Michal who is still inside the ghetto. Her sister, Mira is part of the Resistance and they have a plan to smuggle food to the people behind the wall. When the Germans find out about the plan and move to thwart it, the Resistance turns to the abandoned cats of the city to save the day and the food.
Wendy Watson's illustrations are lovely. Her style and color palette take us back to this time period. Seeing the pictures of the merry-go-round and the holes in the wall was especially evocative having just read Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli.
The opening lines of the story set the scene, "The cats come from the cracks in the Wall, the dark corners, the openings in the rubble." The "Wall" is the wall around the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1939, the German Gestapo crowded Jews into this area of the city where the horrible conditions caused starvation, disease and death.
The young narrator of the story has escaped the ghetto and is "passing" as an Aryan on the other side of the wall. She fears for her friend Michal who is still inside the ghetto. Her sister, Mira is part of the Resistance and they have a plan to smuggle food to the people behind the wall. When the Germans find out about the plan and move to thwart it, the Resistance turns to the abandoned cats of the city to save the day and the food.
Wendy Watson's illustrations are lovely. Her style and color palette take us back to this time period. Seeing the pictures of the merry-go-round and the holes in the wall was especially evocative having just read Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
