Books
Children's Books: New York, new life
My Aunt Manya by José Patterson is the story of 10-year-old Sarah, sent unaccompanied to New York to escape the Russian pogroms.
February 25, 2016 10:20
My Aunt Manya by José Patterson is the story of 10-year-old Sarah, sent unaccompanied to New York to escape the Russian pogroms.
February 25, 2016 10:20My Aunt Manya by José Patterson (Matador, £6.99) is the story of 10-year-old Sarah, sent unaccompanied to New York to escape the Russian pogroms. She endures stinking conditions in steerage, assists with the birth of a baby, learns English from a kind, fellow passenger and confronts a final challenge on Ellis Island before finding a new home.
Sarah's adventures are simply told, with authentic detail and nothing too scary for readers aged nine to 12. There is real emotional depth to the account, with its affectionate recollections of tsimmes, kugel and faith in beshert. Patricia Drew's line drawings are the perfect accompaniment.
A very different journey for Sesame Street's furry blue monster, Grover, in Shalom Everybodeee! (Tilda Balsley and Ellen Fischer, Kar-Ben, £5.50). Touring Israel, Grover visits the key sites - the Wall, a kibbutz, Masada - even managing to scuba-dive in Eilat.
Balsley gets the monster's distinctive perky voice just right and there are plenty of laughs, especially when an important archaeological find turns out to be a suspiciously familiar blue hair. But when Grover covers himself in Dead Sea mud, one can't help but worry if he will ever be quite so blue and furry again. Ages up to seven.
