The Doll with the Yellow Star

by Yona Zeldis McDonough, Kimberly Bulcken Root (Illustrator)

Overview

A tender story about the power of love in the face of loss

Nine-year-old Claudine doesn't want to leave her much-loved home in France to go live in America, not without her parents. But she knows about the shortages, about the yellow stars Jews must wear, and about Adolf Hitler. And she knows that there are some things she needs to do even when she doesn't want to. It's wartime, and there is much that is different now. There are more things that Claudine will lose to this terrible war. But not everything that is lost must be lost forever. Here is a moving story about lost and found lives, and the healing power of love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805099362
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	09/01/2005
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of eight books for children and young readers, including Sisters in Strength: American Women Who Made a Difference, Anne Frank, and Eve and Her Sisters: Women of the Old Testament-all three of which were illustrated by her mother, Malcah Zeldis. Yona lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their two children.

Kimberly Bulcken Root has illustrated over fifteen books for children, including Birdie's Lighthouse. She and her husband, illustrator Barry Root, live with their children in Quarryfield, Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

"This solemnly straightforward chapter book follows Claudine, a Jewish French girl, and her beloved doll Violette as her world is turned upside down twice: first when the Nazis occupy France, and then again when the eight-year-old must leave Papa and Maman behind in Paris to seek safety with relatives in America. ...Root's spot art and full-page illustrations convey a simple poignancy." - Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Claudine, a French Jewish girl, goes to live with relatives in America during WWII, shortly after her eighth birthday. As a gift, she had received Violette, a doll onto whose cape she had sewn a tiny yellow star, the hated symbol all Jews had been forced to wear. After a shipboard fire, Claudine loses her belongings, including Violette. Eventually, her father joins her in New York and brings the terrible news of her mother's death. At war's end, Claudine and Papa return to France, hoping to reclaim their lives, but they no longer feel at home there. She and Papa move back to New York and Claudine, a skilled writer, continues to pen stories. Then comes a wonderful surprise. This tender offering for younger readers would have been more affecting had McDonough not told it from an adult's viewpoint; her coolly detached present-tense voice distances readers from Claudine's tale. Root's gentle, delicate paintings balance the grim realities. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews