Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II

This excellent new children's book dealing with the Holocaust approaches the subject in a refreshing, non-threatening way that makes it a sure winner. Popular children's book author/illustrator Marisabina Russo tells the story of her own family history, focusing on the four strong Jewish women (her grandmother, her mother, and her two aunts) who most influenced her life. Russo's story features a young girl named Rachel who is finally deemed old enough to hear the full story of her Oma's (German grandmother's) life. Oma begins with an aged album of pictures of her life before she came to America and ends with her new, clean album of pictures of her "second life" in America. "Why am I so lucky to have two lives? That is a long and interesting story", says Oma. Children will be drawn into Oma's tale of the simple and happy life she led in pre-war Germany--pre-war in this case going back to pre-World War I--and the successive births of her three beloved daughters. Each daughter is carefully identified by Rachel as either her mother or one of her aunts, which reassures the reader that this story will have a happy ending. The tragedy of life in the camps is not the focus of this tale, and there is only one paragraph of explanation of those years. Clearly Russo is focusing on the joyous times of her grandmother's long life, and the incredible sense of "luck" Oma feels that she and her three daughters all survived those times and were reunited to begin anew in America. The illustrations are particularly clever as they are clearly drawn imitations of real-life photos and documents but retain their immediacy as colorful re-creations. The true photos are used as endpapers, which enhance the fun of finding the real photo that corresponds to the textual narrative of Oma's tale. This book is a joyous celebration of life. Clearly the luck that had followed her relatives has blessed young Rachel in turn and allowed Russo to share her own remarkable family with us. Reviewed by Lisa Silverman

It is hard to find books--particularly picture books--about the Holocaust and World War II that are appropriate for young audiences. ALWAYS REMEMBER ME: HOW ONE FAMILY SURVIVED WORLD WAR II is a great find indeed! ALWAYS REMEMBER ME is a story within a story. Oma is sharing her family history with her young granddaughter, Rachel, as the two look through two photo albums. One photo album contains pictures of her life in Poland and Germany. These photos contain pictures that evoke happy memories of the grandmother's life (her childhood, her marriage, her motherhood)...but some of the later pictures in the book evoke sad memories of what happened when the Nazis took control of Germany. Fortunately, Oma and two of her daughters survive concentration camp (her oldest daughter had immigrated to America). The second photo album contains pictures of the family once they have moved to America to start their new lives. The endpapers are designed as a scrapbook/photo album. Black and white photos (also sepia-toned photos) line the endpapers with white cursive captions identifying the people, places, and ages of the photographic subjects. There is a five word glossary identifying Yiddish and German words used in the picture book, and there is a two-page afterward summarizing briefly Hitler's rise to power and the Holocaust. In addition to being a great story/introduction to the Holocaust, I enjoy the celebration of family that ALWAYS REMEMBER ME embodies. It is a great story about how important it is to pass down family stories and keepsakes. I love the bond between Rachel and her grandmother.