Title:

Hidden Child                                        Picture Book #3

Author:

Isaac Millman

Publisher:

Farrar, Straus, Giroux

Date:

2005

ISBN:

0374330719

# of Pages (Readership):

71 pp. (‘Tween/YA)

Genre

Autobiography (picture book)

Diversity

Jews in France, WWII

Plot Summary:

7 year-old Isaac Sztrymfman lived with parents in Paris in 1940 when Nazis invaded. Parents had emigrated from Poland to flee Nazi oppression. Papa is taken to Pithivers Internment Camp; Isaac and Mama visit him once before visits terminated. Their last letter from Papa is received in June 1942. I. and M. wear stars and suffer increasing restrictions for Jews. M. attempts to take I. to Vichy France (free zone), but they are arrested. M. bribes prison guard with money and jewelry. I. never sees M. again. Guard takes I. to hospital, where he stays for one month with other Jewish children who are feigning sickness. Then a series of positive and negative experiences as a hidden child follow. I. ends up with Madame Devolder – until liberation. Goes to Les Buissons, temporary home for Jewish kids. When parents can’t be found, adopted by American Jewish family, the Millman’s, and immigrates to U.S. Later learns parents had been murdered in Auschwitz.

Theme(s):

Children who survived the Holocaust or other inhumane treatment  have painful memories that stay with them their entire lives.

Personal Response:

The format of this book is compelling. After 3 to 6 pages of first-person narrative, illustrated by photographs, Millman offers a double-page spread that illuminates the information found on the previous pages. The cover also makes a powerful statement.

Curricular or Programming Connections:

WWII - Holocaust

Memoir

Persecution