Benno and the Night of Broken Glass - Meg Wiviott

Illustrated by Josee Bisaillon
Kar-Ben Publishers, 2010
"ages 7-11"
$17.95
32 pages
Rating: 5
Endpapers: The legs and feet of people pre-11/10/38 and post-11/10/38

Told from the point-of-view of a neighborhood cat in 1938 Berlin, we learn of life in a small, friendly neighborhood before and after Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) which most consider the beginning of the Holocaust in November of 1938. It's a particularly powerful story. Although it's hard to say at what age the concept of the Holocaust should be discussed, this would be an excellent book with which to begin, I think.

The illustrations seem to be a combination of cut paper, stenciled painting, line drawing, and coloring. Pages are covered from edge-to-edge and get darker as the story progresses.

The 2-page Afterword and 2-page Bibliography are just right for my 4th graders, and include a couple of actual photos.

Super book.