Customer Reviews

The Cats in Krasinski Square

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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.

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.

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.

They know
I can offer only
a gentle hand,
a tender voice.
They have no choice but to come.
They belonged once to someone.
They slept on sofa cushions
and ate from crystal dishes.
They purred,
furrowing the chest,
nuzzling the chins of their beloveds.

Thus begins this amazing work by Karen Hess and illustrated by Wendy Watson. This story was taken from a small article the author read concerning the cats of the Warsaw Ghetto during the take-over by the German Army, April 1943. A young Jewish Girl and her sister have escaped the fate suffered by so many, only because they could pass for "Polish," and were able to avoid being confined to this area in Warsaw. They were able to smuggle food to those trapped on the other side. Having problems finding food for themselves, a plan was made to bring food in from outside the city. Somehow the Gestapo found out about these plans and made their own plans to capture those who were trying to bring the food in.

The young girl, her sister, and others gathered the now stray cats from Krasinski Square, secreted them in bundles and were waiting at the station when the smugglers brought the bundles of food into the station. At just the moment when the Gestapo closed in with their dogs, the people released the cats and in the pandemonium which followed the people were able to escape with their food bundles.

My goodness, what a lovely work, used to tell of such a horrible even in our history. The author's flawless use of simple free verse is most effective in this case. The artist's light, almost glowing use of the brush and color adds almost a surrealistic feel to such a dark event. To be frank, I cannot remember reading anything quite like this work.

The bravery of the little girl in the story, along with her sister and others involved in getting food to those being held is quite inspiring. Knowing of the absolute bravery of the young men and women fighting against what could arguable be the most evil a cowardly organization known in the world to that date, is inspiring beyond words. Many young men and women did escape the Warsaw Ghetto uprising to fight again another day, but many more did not. Note that I mention only "young men and women" here. The stark reality was that all the very young and the old had long since been sent to their doom at internment camps; by the tens of thousands. All that were left were those young and strong enough to work as slave labor in plants and factories.

Now I will say that this is a wonderful and well written work. I personally would not feel comfortable using it as an introduction to the Holocaust with the age group to which it is targeted which is grades two through five. If this book is read, it should be read with an adult who is familiar with the happenings of that time in general, and the Warsaw incident in particular. There is much in this little work that needs a much fuller explanation. I feel It would be best if a parent or teacher discussed these events, their beginnings and the final tragic outcome.

This is a unique work and belongs in any library, either public, school or library. I cannot say I "enjoyed" it, as I certainly did not, but I can say I appreciated it. I suspect that most who read it will be such as I, and after reflection, shed a tear or two.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

I picked this book for an elementary school in Bronx,NY as a donation to their Read-A-Loud Celebration. I only saw the title and had no idea about the content. It is a great book to spark student interest in the holocaust. If you are a cat lover, it is an added bonus. But be warned, the story is dark.

Once upon a time in a far away place, there lived a bad man, a very bad man. In fact this man was so good at being bad that he convinced the people of his country that he was a good man. Not only that, he convinced them he was the man for the job, the job of leading their government. So he did. Then he convinced his people that there were enemies living right there in their country and they should remove them. But inside his government where there were dark secrets, this bad man decided to create a Final Solution for dealing with these enemies within.

Years later and still unto this day, many writers and historians and journalists have tried to explain how this bad man gained such power to do the awful things he did. Karen Hesse and Wendy Watson combined talents to create "The Cats in Krasinski Square," in their effort to show one tiny moment in this ugly episode of history, the Holocaust of Jews, first in Germany, then rapidly spreading to other Germanic countries and conquered ones in World War II.

In Poland in Warsaw in the Jewish community, walls were built to keep in Jews and keep out non-Jews. Simply an early phase of the Final Solution. Separate the Jews into ghettos, then collect them in cattle cars to take them to the concentration camps, then eliminate their existence through crematoriums--the Final Solution. Notice the massing together at each phase, attempting to make negligible their humanity.

The cats in Krasinski Square are homeless because of the rounding up and crowding together of the Jews. The cats thrive on mice, but they miss their former masters. People outside the ghettos, both non-Jews and Jews able to escape and pass as Polish, keep the cats socialized by the attention they give them (see cover for an example).

A nameless girl, a Polish Jew, who escaped the ghetto, is the narrator of this simple, but heroic act to get food inside the ghetto. There are many holes in the walls, the escape hatch for the cats who come and go, seeking mice. It also is the entryway for food. For this particular episode, friends will arrive on trains with satchels of food to bestow in the holes of the walls. Unfortunately, the Gestapo knows and waits with hungry dogs. The cats are used as lures for the dogs, who go after them instead of the food. Food disappears into the walls and starvation is staved again for a while longer.

That is the essence of the story. A great story. The other half of this wonderful story is the illustrations. They are done in pencil, ink, and watercolors on Strathmore drawing paper. Watercolors tend to give a transparency to the subject, providing a dreamy cast. Watson also uses dark colors, possibly pencil, to provide a ominous overcast to every scene, then offsetting each with an orange glow, perhaps suggestive of hope and action. This is such a perfect pairing, words and illustrations to convey a message of action through hope and hope leading to action. A must-read book for every public, school, and home library.

I brought this book to my Developmental Reading Class (certification/graduate) and it was received as a great book that deals with predjudice, religious acceptance, and the resourcefulness of one little girl in Poland who successfully diverted Nazi soldiers with cats while she snuck food to a starving Jewish family. What a clever way to outsmart the enemy and how caring this child was to risk her life to save another from starvation.

Picture book by Karen Hesse, author of the Newbery Medal winner "Out of the Dust," which is simply top notch. A book to own. How cats helped smuggle food into the Warsaw ghetto. I think this book has more of an impact on adults who have an understanding of the Holocaust, rather than children. Still, my six-year old enjoyed it.

This is a moving story of the Jewish Resistance in and out of the Warsaw ghetto, with lovely illustrations, but I wonder how many of the target audience (9-12) will really understand the underlying tragedy? They will understand that a young girl and the cats saved the day, but I believe that quite a bit of explanation will be necessary. Perhaps that is a good thing. Definitely do not skip the afterward; it explains the basis for this story.
It is an excellent book.

Having taught the history of the Holocaust at the high school level for a number of years, I realized that it is not easy to write any work of fiction about the Holocaust, as there is always the danger of trivializing such a significant period in world history. This is especially true for younger readers - how does one write about the Holocaust without scaring off younger readers by the nightmarish subject matter whilst conveying the fear and horror of the times in a manner that engages these readers.

"The Cats in Krasinski Square" succeeds in engaging both older and younger readers, and does this so well, that I actually went ahead and read this to my almost 5-year-old (who has already been 'acquainted' with the story of Anne Frank and some of the history of the Holocaust, albeit at a very basic level). The story follows the exploits of a young Jewish girl during WW II in Warsaw, Poland. Having been lucky enough to escape to the Aryan side of the city, both the young girl and her older sister, Mira live 'openly' amongst the Gentiles (non-Jews), though they are both Jewish. Their real identities remain a strictly guarded secret, and both sisters are keen to help the Jews who are imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto and starving from lack of food. They find that there is a plan to smuggle food into the Ghetto, but when news arrives that the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) are aware of this plan, the young girl hatches a plan which involves 'enlisting' the help of the numerous stray cats that populate Krasinski Square to divert the Nazi dogs away from the smugglers.

The language flows smoothly and simply, yet effectively captures the horror of the times without making this a nightmarish read for young readers. This is definitely one of the best Holocaust-themed books for young readers and comes highly recommended!