BOOK PICKS.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The Cats in Krasinski Square

By Karen Hesse, illustrated by Wendy Watson

(Scholastic Press, New York, 2004)

Ages 7 and up

Newbery medalist Karen Hesse has created another gem of a book.

This picture book takes place in Warsaw, Poland, during the Holocaust. It centers on a young girl who escaped the ghetto that houses her fellow Jews. She has burned her armband and carries herself as the Polish people do. She speaks their language, looks Polish, and tries to be invisible.

Her one joy in life is talking to the cats once owned by people and who now scavenge in Krasinski square. While she can't feed the cats, they have become friends during these dark days.

Her sister, Mira, the only member of her family that remains, is a member of the Underground. Mira and her friends plan to smuggle food to those living inside the ghetto. They will meet others at the train station and sneak satchels filled with food and warm clothing into the wall of the ghetto.

The group finds out that the Nazis know of this plan and will be at the train station waiting for the arrivals with food-sniffing dogs.

The young narrator comes up with a plan to save the day. She has everyone gather the cats at the square and they take them to the train station. Once people are arriving on the trains, the cats are released and chaos ensues. The smuggled items disappear over the wall into the ghetto.

This retelling of a true story is a gentle introduction to the horror of the Holocaust that allows the reader some distance from the ugliness of that time.

Hesse heard the story and couldn't get it out of her mind until she researched it and wrote the lyrical text in a free-verse style.

Her story is matched with luminous pencil and watercolor drawings by Wendy Watson. The bold pictures seem to recapture life in that time and convey a hope with their golden glow.

I will be surprised if this isn't on many award lists, as it is one of the best picture books of the year. A brilliant rendering of a tragic period in our history.

- Aimee Meuchel, Youth Services Librarian,

Eugene Public Library