AN Ellis Island Christmas (Picture Puffins) [Mass Market Paperback]

Maxinne Rhea Leighton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994 | Age Level: 4 and up | Series: Picture Puffins

This picture book portrait of a little girl's immigration to America from Europe provides an honest and child-like perspective. "Will touch memories across generations".--Booklist. "Authentic details plus Nolan's misty paintings capture the period with grace and care".--Kirkus Reviews. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Maxinne Rhea Leighton lives in New York City. Dennis Nolan lives in Massachusetts. --This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140553444
• ISBN-13: 978-0140553444
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,098,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --Coming To America--, January 27, 2003

By 

Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: AN Ellis Island Christmas (Picture Puffins) (Mass Market Paperback)

Written from the perspective of a little girl, this story gives an excellent idea of what it was like for the immigrants who came to America during the years, 1892 to 1924. This is the story of six-year old Krysia Petrowski's voyage to America.

Krysia's father was already in America to make a new life for his family. When he had a job and a home, he sent for his wife, daughter and two sons. The decision to leave Poland, their homeland was difficult; leaving behind family and friends was not an easy thing to do. The children could only take necessary items and each child was allowed to bring just one toy. Their clothes, blankets, shoes and toys were knotted up in a sheet to be carried over the shoulder. Krysia had a problem choosing between her two beloved dolls. She took Basha because she was the smaller of the two dolls and would take up less space.

After leaving their village, it took the family four days of walking to arrive at the port where a large steamship was there to take them across the ocean. The difficult sea voyage involved poor sanitation, sickness and lack of decent food. After about fourteen days, the passengers finally view the Statue of Liberty and depart at Ellis Island on Christmas Eve.

On Ellis Island, the immigrants went through many inspections, which included medical examinations for each family member. The paperwork and examination usually took three to five hours to complete. Passing the examinations meant that the immigrants were allowed into the country. Those who did not have the proper papers or failed their medicals, were delayed for days or even months and could be sent back to their original countries.

This well written and carefully illustrated little book is ideal for children who are studying the history of America or the story of their own family.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I felt like I was reading my own family history!, February 28, 2006

By 

Groovy Vegan (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: AN Ellis Island Christmas (Mass Market Paperback)

"An Ellis Island Christmas" is a first person fictional story of a 6 year-old girl emigrating from Poland to America in the early 1900s, inspired by the author's grandmother. As I read the book, I was reminded of my grandmother's story of emigrating from a Russian-Poland border town to America in 1910 at age 6. Like the girl, Krysia, who traveled with her mother and two older brothers to meet her father in America, my grandmother traveled with her mother and older brother to meet her father and sister there. Many details are very similar to what my grandmother told me, including the long arduous journey to the ship, the ship severely rocking, and all the passengers getting sea sick. (Although in my grandmother's case, she was the only passenger who did not get sick!) With so many authentic details, from leaving home to the ride on the ship to the Ellis Island immigrant processing (including medical exam), author Maxinne Rhea Leighton captures the essence of the Eastern European immigration experience during America's peak immigration years of 1892 to 1924.

Illustrator Dennis Nolan, whose illustrations grace dozens of children's books and other publications, also does a fabulous job of capturing the immigration experience with his sensitive, softly drawn, detailed drawings. He excels in capturing expression, such as the girl earnestly trying to decide which doll she could keep, her look of slight apprehension boarding the ship, and the joyful reunion with her father.

The back of the book says it is for ages 3 to 8. I would suggest ages 6 through 9 or grades 1 through 3. At 31 pages, many containing several paragraphs of text, the book is too long and detailed to read to a preschooler as a bedtime story. But it's perfect for a young grade school child to read to him- or herself. It's a fabulous idea for a story, beautifully and sensitively executed, and although geared toward children, I believe adults would enjoy it too as I have.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasured keepsake, March 13, 2008

By 

S. Hodge - See all my reviews
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This review is from: AN Ellis Island Christmas (Mass Market Paperback)

I discovered An Ellis Island Christmas while trying to research my own family's journey from Poland in 1917. Growing up, I remember my babcia (grandmother) storing her sewing supplies in a small wicker hamper with a cloth lining. This was the same container that brought my grandmother and great-grandmother's possessions from Zamosc, Poland. When I flipped through An Ellis Island Christmas and saw that beautiful watercolor of a Polish willow hamper that matched my own heirloom, it was an emotional moment.

The picture book tells the story of Krysia, a six-year-old Polish girl whose father has already left for America (as was frequently the case). Now, Krysia and her mother and brothers are boarding a steamship that will take them to Ellis Island. Their journey is a tiring one, first having to walk on foot to reach their point of departure, then facing seasickness and storms at sea before arriving at their destination. Because this is a book aimed at ages 5 and up, there are brief hints of immigrants deported for illnesses and the threat of WWI, but the story does not dwell or linger on these darker moments, instead focusing on Krysia's wonder at the journey, her friend and shipmate Zanya, and her dolls.

Christmas Eve at Ellis Island is a wondrous experience for Krysia, who discovers that Father Christmas has made the journey all the way from Poland. She also discovers bananas and electric lights for the first time.

The beautiful watercolor / colored pencil graphics truly bring Krysia's experience to vibrant life; the haunting image of the Statue of Liberty must have been exactly as my grandmother saw it when she was a little girl. The sepia-toned illustrations of a rustic Polish cottage and the imposing Ellis Island hallways are softened by the melancholy Krysia, until she smiles at last when being reunited with her papa.

This is a beautiful book to introduce younger readers to the Ellis Island immigrant experience, and it's even more meaningful for those of us who had a grandparent who immigrated in recent memory . I was lucky enough to finally track down the original ship manifests and Ellis Island documents for my Polish grandparents (who immigrated at roughly the same time as Krysia), and my personal experiences as a second-generation Polish-American made An Ellis Island Christmas even more meaningful.