Whispering Town PB - by Jennifer Elvgren (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>The dramatic story of neighbors in a small Danish fishing village who, during the Holocaust, shelter a Jewish family waiting to be ferried to safety in Sweden. It is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Anett and her parents are hiding a Jewish woman and her son, Carl, in their cellar until a fishing boat can take them across the sound to neutral Sweden.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>The dramatic story of neighbors in a small Danish fishing village who, during the Holocaust, shelter a Jewish family waiting to be ferried to safety in Sweden.<br /> <br /> It is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Anett and her parents are hiding a Jewish woman and her son, Carl, in their cellar until a fishing boat can take them across the sound to neutral Sweden. The soldiers patrolling their street are growing suspicious, so Carl and his mama must make their way to the harbor despite a cloudy sky with no moon to guide them. Worried about their safety, Anett devises a clever and unusual plan for their safe passage to the harbor.<br /> <br /> Based on a true story.</p>-- "Journal"<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>A picture book proves 'it takes a village' long before people said 'it takes a village'. Whispers and quiet courage turn resistance to Nazis during the Holocaust in Denmark into a heart warming story of supportive action. First person narrative and illustrations deliver danger, fear and heroism. The cruel need to hide to survive is balanced by resourceful support of neighbors and strangers. A family of righteous gentiles hides Jews in their cellar on a regular basis. Anett, their young daughter, treads into the dark to bring them food, guided down the stairs by their whispers. To ease the waiting, she brings library books. Anett replenishes supplies by visiting the baker, the librarian and the farmer; all talk in whispers. After a few days, hidden Jews walk to the town harbor where they board boats to be smuggled to safety in Sweden. Daily the occupying Nazi soldiers bang on doors and threaten townsfolk about protecting Jews. Anett knows how to warn those in her house; she knows how to answer the ugly soldiers. But no one seems to know how to get hidden Jews to the harbor without being caught when there is no moonlight to ensure a secure route. In the story, remembering how whispers get her down stairs, Anett suggests townsfolk stand in their doorways to whisper sequentially, enabling Jews to make the harbor without meeting soldiers. (In history, not all escapes succeeded; one of the exceptions happened in the town, Gilleleje, where this story is set.) The actual tiny fishing village helped 1700, almost one fourth of Danish Jews, board boats for safe passage to a safer land. The cold palette of the art is broken by angry slashes of red. Faces communicate tension. The short, direct lines of text speak worlds. <strong>This slim volume is highly recommended for its fine read, for its introduction to sound historical fiction and for its gentle look at a difficult past that cannot be ignored. </strong><br /> <br /> Recommended for ages 6 to 9. -- <em>Jewish Book World</em></p>-- "Magazine"<br><br><p>Annet's family is part of the Danish resistance, hiding Jews in their cellar until the hidden refugees can escape by boat to Sweden. Unlike many stories set during the Nazi occupation, this one finds its protagonist, who narrates the story, an already accomplished insurgent: when her mother tells Annet, 'There are new friends in the cellar, ' the girl knows whom to go to in the underground for additional food and even books for the young boy sheltering with his mother. These hushed requests inspire Annet to create a kind of whispering chain to guide the Jews to the harbor on a moonless night. <strong>Based on real events that unfolded in the Danish fishing town of Gilleleje, it's a story that feels urgent and refreshingly unsentimental. Elvgren (Josias, Hold the Book) never stops her reportorial storytelling for a speech about why these brave people are defying the Nazis--Annet just knows she has to act. Santomauro, who has a distinctly graphic novel sensibility, uses strong ink lines and a rich neutral palette (save for a few splashes of red) to convey a sense of secrecy, high stakes, and profound moral courage.</strong> Ages 7-11. Illustrator's agent: Advocate Art. (Feb.) -- <em>Publisher's Weekly</em></p>-- "Journal"<br><br><p>Rounding out this literary threesome of resistance and escape is 'The Whispering Town, ' a picture book written by Jennifer Elvgren and illustrated by Fabio Santomauro. The setting is a Danish fishing village, but one of the book's charms is how little context you need to understand it: There's a war, and Anett's family is hiding refugees and sneaking them to safety by boat to neutral Sweden. Anett's job is to bring food to the Jewish mother and child hidden in her basement, where she finds her way down the dark stairs by following the sound of their whispers. When Anett's father worries that the refugees might get lost in the dark when they flee to the harbor, Anett suggests the whole village whisper directions to them as they go. The publisher of 'The Whispering Town' recommends the book for children ages 7 to 11, but it feels appropriate for reading to very young children as an introduction to the subject of the Holocaust. It's definitely the least harrowing of the three books. The threat to the escaping mother and child is only hinted at in the bales of barbed wire that accompany the Nazi soldiers whenever they appear, in the worrying absence of the father in the Jewish family group, and in the villagers' ominous, repeated warning: 'Stay safe.' Santomauro's thoughtful illustrations, with their restrained colors, subtly remind the reader of the village's determined solidarity. -- <em>The New York Times Book Review</em></p>-- "Newspaper"<br>
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