No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War

Summary: In 1939, when Anita Lobel was five, German soldiers marched into Krakow. Anita's father, the owner of a chocolate factory and a Jew, runs away in the middle of the night. As a child, Anita Lobel spent years hiding from the Nazis and trying to protect her little brother. The two children have to work through assumed identities, a dangerous stay in the Krakow ghetto, hiding in a convent, and much more! They were captured and marched from camp to camp. Finally, in 1945, they were reunited with their parents and they had to learn to live all over again.My thoughts:This book touches your heart in a way few books do. Told from a child's point of view, using a very child-like voice, the story leaps out of the pages and into your mind. This book is written by an illustrator of beautiful picture books like Potatoes, Potatoes, and On Market Street. The title, No Pretty Pictures, seems to reflect her drawing career. In one example, when she first was allowed to enter school after the war, she was sent to an art class. There, she was given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and a set of new watercolors. She painted a wonderful blue chair, to the delight of her art teacher and the other students. She hasn't stopped painting since.One moral that simply explodes out of this book is to never give up. No matter what life throws at you - starvation, imprisonment, hiding, or whatever - you can persevere. Anita overcame all of the obstacles placed in front of her, either by herself or with the help of others, and has created a spectacular life for herself. If she can succeed despite such odds, so can everybody else.I think children would love to read this book when they are old enough to get all the way through it. At almost 200 pages, it is not a quick book to read. But it is a gripping, page-turning story - one of those kind that you can't put down. I think children will be drawn to the child-like voice of the story, the innocence the author manages to use. Anita Lobel is one of those truly gifted authors that can tell a horrible story about a child, for a child, without sounding condescending or self-pitying.

This was a really moving, beautiful book. I think in the book, Anita Lobel depicted the opinions and feelings of a child and teenager very realistically. The book is easy to read and a real page-turner. It is written in a very clear, simple style so that the reader is able to sympathise and understand the character's feelings. Anita Lobel is able to write the book in a way that shows that she doesn't pity herself for what happened during the Second World War in Poland. The author never overexaggerates or overemphasizes the situations that she experiences. What really stunned me about her character as a child, was that she confronted every situation very bravely and maturely. As a child, Anita Lobel was thankful for any small improvement in her life during the war.

I love this poignant memoir. Everyone I give it to reads it start to finish usually in either one sitting or over a period of a couple of days.We have read portions to my daughter (age 8) who is familiar with and interested in the Holocaust. I think that my daughter found it empowering to know that against great odds Anita did survive.Knowing Anita and her works over a period of many years, I never really knew her true story until I read her wonderful book.I highly recommend it.