Gittel's Journey bookcover

Gittel's Journey

An Ellis Island Story
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Description

Both a heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, Gittel's Journey offers a fresh perspective on the immigration journey.

Gittel and her mother were supposed to immigrate to America together, but when her mother is stopped by the health inspector, Gittel must make the journey alone.

Her mother writes her cousin's address in New York on a piece of paper. However, when Gittel arrives at Ellis Island, she discovers the ink has run and the address is illegible! How will she find her family?

The book includes an author's note explaining how Gittel's story is based on the journey to America taken by Lesléa Newman's grandmother and family friend.

"Beautifully designed and illustrated . . . The watercolor illustrations artfully capture an era and people." --School Library Journal (Starred Review)

"Newman's spare yet evocative text works well as a read-aloud, and the solution to Gittel's problem . . . is both clever and true." --Booklist (Starred Review)

Product Details

PublisherHarry N. Abrams
Publish DateFebruary 05, 2019
Pages48
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9781419727474
Dimensions11.1 X 9.3 X 0.5 inches | 1.1 pounds
BISAC Categories: Kids, Kids, Kids

About the Author

Lesléa Newman is the author of over 80 books for children and adults. She has received many awards, including two Stonewall Book Awards honors, the National Jewish Book Award (Gittel's Journey), fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Book Award, a Sydney Taylor Book Award and Honor, the Highlights for Children Fiction Writing Award, and the James Baldwin Award for Cultural Achievement, among many others. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists. She is also a popular guest lecturer at college campuses across the country, and currently she is a faculty mentor at Spalding University's School of Creative and Professional Writing.
Amy Bates is the illustrator of many books for children, including The Boy and the Sea, Gittel's Journey, Minette's Feast, and The Dog Who Belonged to No One. She lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Beautifully designed and illustrated . . . The watercolor illustrations artfully capture an era and people."--School Library Journal
**STARRED REVIEW**
"Mixed-media images by Bates (The Big Umbrella), washed in yellows and browns and framed by woodblock motifs, give readers a vivid sense of the historical context while infusing the story with a timeless emotional immediacy. Newman (Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed) skillfully modulates her narration, capturing her protagonist's feelings of excitement, loneliness, and fear. The ending, handled with both restraint and warmth, relies on one of those improbable twists of good fortune that define so many immigrant stories--and it's based on a real event."--Publishers Weekly
**STARRED REVIEW**
"Newman's spare yet evocative text works well as a read-aloud, and the solution to Gittel's problem . . . is both clever and true . . . She [Bates] employs Old World style decorative frames throughout (setting off both art and text), appropriate to the story's turn-of-the-century setting."--Booklist
"Newman tells Gittel's story with sympathy and tenderness, incorporating Jewish phrases (italicized) and customs and placing within it facts about that time and place. Gittel's every emotion is felt in Bates' soft, earth-toned, framed illustrations reminiscent of old-time sepia photographs . . . A heartfelt, lovely evocation of one facet of the immigrant experience."--Kirkus Reviews
"The illustrations are beautiful . . . Classroom teachers can use as an example text showing one child's story of immigration. An excellent addition to a library collection."--School Library Connection

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