Historical Fiction Month: A Young Jewish Girl Survives World War II in France – Interview with ODETTE’S SECRETS Author Maryann MacDonald

Posted on 09/30/2013

ODETTE’S SECRETS is a story for younger readers told in verse (Bloomsbury, 2013), about a Jewish girl named Odette living in Paris during World War II. While classified as fiction, it is based very closely on a true story about a real girl named Odette. When the Germans occupied Paris, Odette was sent to the country to live with a family where she had to  pretend to be a Christian child, while many of her family and friends were sent to concentration camps.  Happily, her mother was able to join her eventually, while her father fought for the French army. He, too, survived.

The photo above is of Odette and her Mama in 1942.

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Madame Marie, a close family friend who helped get Odette out of Paris to safety.

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The apartment in Paris where Odette lived with her family before the war.

Maryann McDonald is the author of over 25 books for young readers (including The Christmas Cat , out this month from Dial). She grew up outside of Detroit, lived in England and France for many years, and now lives in New York City.

Why do you think Odette’s story spoke to you? 

I was fascinated with the idea that many thousands of French Jewish children survived WWII by hiding in plain sight.  I wondered what effect hiding in this way might have on a child.  What would be the cost of impersonating someone else at a tender age?

Odette’s memoir, Doors to Madame Marie, told about this experience.  She explained, in simple terms, how her childhood conscience developed, and how she came to terms with what she understood as necessary lies.  She also discussed the consequences these lies had on her developing sense of self.  This, in addition to the many intimate details of Odette’s life experience in Paris and the Vendee during WWII, made her story come alive for me.

Papa, in the image Odette carried with her throughout war, wearing his soldier’s uniform.

What makes this historical fiction rather than a biography? 

The story is written in the first person, in free verse.  I made the choice to write it this way because I wanted it to sound as if Odette herself was telling the story.  Odette did tell her story many times in schools, churches and synagogues.  And she loved poetry, and thought it contributed to her survival.  But my choice to write the story in first-person verse took it out of the realms of biography.  Nevertheless, I was extremely careful to keep the facts straight and to refer only to situations and conversations I knew took place.  I wanted everything to be as accurate as possible.

Jacques Raffin, the man you met in the village of Chavagnes-en-Paillers, lived with Odette when they were children and she first escaped Paris.  How did he remember Odette?  Did he know her secret?  Why was Odette safer there than in Paris? 

Jacques Raffin was a very old man when I met him.  He welcomed me and my husband, showed us around his house and garden, and reminisced about playing with Odette there, but did not say anything in particular about her except that she had later come to visit his family.  I never thought to ask Monsieur Raffin if he knew her secret as a child…I wish I had!

The place where Odette lived in the Vendee was considered a remote backwater.  Although there were German soldiers in the region, the main focus of the war was elsewhere.  Life moved along in the slow, traditional ways it always had in this conservative Catholic community.  Even Odette and her friends thought they were the only Jewish children hidden there.  In fact, as they discovered after the war, there were more than forty.

There was an interesting statistic in your notes about the large number of children saved in France during the war years.  Can you tell us more about that?

In 1940 there were about 70,000 Jews younger than eighteen years-old living in France.  About 11,400 of them were deported.  Almost all of the deported children died.  However, the other 84% survived.

I was astonished when I first learned this.  One hears often about how the French were collaborators with the Nazis during WWII, and on the official level this was true.  But on the personal level, many French either looked the other way or assisted Jews to survive.  About 76% of the French Jewish population in total survived.  They could not have done this without people like Madame Marie, Monsieur Henri, and the Raffins.

Part 2 next!

Teaching Diversity Through Oral Storytelling

Posted on 09/29/2013

Teaching with Story: Classroom Connections to Storytelling (August House, 2013) is a celebration of a family who has joined together to share their delight in oral storytelling and all of the diversity that comes with it. Author Margaret Read MacDonald has devoted her career to sharing the joys of storytelling with parents, educators, and librarians. Inspired by her mother’s devotion to storytelling, daughter Jennifer MacDonald Whitman became a teacher and began telling stories in her classroom right away. And then, when Margaret was a Fulbright Scholar in Northeast Thailand, Jen brought then fiancé Nathaniel Forrest Whitman for a visit ; he was smitten by the art of storytelling. Today, Margaret teaches storytelling techniques all around the globe, Jen uses storytelling to connect with Kindergarten curriculum, and Nat shares stories daily as an elementary school librarian.

The book is organized by The Seven C’s of Storytelling: Community, Character, Communications, Curriculum, Cultural Connections, Creativity and Confidence. Each chapter classification includes two stories and multiple suggestions for lesson extensions. The stories featured hail from places all over the world – Siberia, Australia, Burma, Cuba, Brazil and beyond! And, the authors demonstrate how storytelling helps to meet the benchmarks and academic standards by offering a resource section covering the concerns of meeting the rigors of today’s academic expectations.

“There are a thousand reasons to tell stories in the classroom, but really, the most important reason for bringing storytelling into your classroom is joy. Once you begin a tradition of storytelling with your students you will find that you delight in the telling as much as your students delight in listening (12).”

Carnivores and Frog Trouble

Posted on 09/26/2013

CARNIVORES by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat (Chronicle Books, 2013)

It’s not easy being at the top of the food chain. In fact, it’s downright depressing. And it hurts, too. After all, it’s not the lion’s fault that the gazelles don’t trust him. And the great white shark? Well, he’s just misunderstood. The timber wolf doesn’t even stand a chance, what with all those stories floating around about his big, sharp teeth. What’s a respectable carnivore supposed to do? Form a support group, of course. And… go vegetarian! Not surprisingly, eating leaves, bark, berries, and seaweed only goes so far. When the friends finally call in the oldest and wisest carnivore they know, life turns rosy again. After all, “I’m not bad,” whispered the lion. “Eating meat is just what I do!” Kids and parents will giggle through this rowdy read-aloud!

Frog Trouble by Sandra Boynton

FROG TROUBLE – songs and illustrations by Sandra Boynton (Workman Publishing, 2013)

This book and accompanying music is just plain fun! Check out the video, “The Making of Sandra Boynton’s FROG TROUBLE”  for a behind-the-scenes look at the music and story.

All That’s Missing by Sarah Sullivan

Posted on 09/24/2013

We spoke with author Sarah Sullivan about her journey from early draft to final revision and the aha moment that eventually became the evocative debut, All That’s Missing (Candlewick Press), set to hit bookstore shelves October 8th.

*** Thanks to all who entered this month’s giveaway! Congratulations to Colleen Malley, winner of a signed copy of All That’s Missing!

When my novel was still an unformed mass of keystrokes, I attended a writer’s retreat during which there was a memorable and rather heated discussion involving the absence of books which included characters of different races, in which issues of racial prejudice or inequality or social justice were not the primary focus of the plot.  Where were the books that reflected our richly diverse society, where children are blessedly color-blind to an extent we only dared to dream possible in earlier generations?

While all agreed that it remains important to tell the stories of injustice and prejudice, wasn’t it time to reflect a world where diversity was simply a given, where African-American, Latino, Asian-American, Muslim, Hindu, Native American and Caucasian children, as well as children of multiple ethnicities, encounter the usual problems and joys of growing up in towns and cities and rural areas across the United States?

Well, wasn’t it time?

The discussion from the writing retreat haunted me.  I needed to pay attention. I came home and went to my weekly read-aloud session where, for more than ten years, I’d been going into a second grade classroom in a racially diverse school and sharing picture books.  On this visit, I read Martin’s Big Words  and, when it became obvious that the students had no idea how things had been between black and white people during the Civil Rights Movement, again I knew I had to rethink my story.  These students were way ahead of me.  It was time for me to catch up.

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

As a country, we were on the verge of electing our first African-American president.  I wanted to reach for a world where children of different races and, children whose parents came from diverse heritages, exist as part of a community and not as some object of controversy. Of course, there would be a history of racial prejudice because, after all, that’s the tragic truth of our history and my story was set in an area of the country that had seen its share of racial troubles.  But these second graders had given me both hope and courage to reach for a better world.

I completely re-wrote the second half of my book.  The characters came alive in my head and the story took shape.  My protagonist, Arlo, becomes friends with a girl named Maywood whose parents own a small independent bookstore in the town where his grandmother lives.  Maywood’s mother, who is an art history professor at a nearby college, is African-American.  Her father, who runs the book store, is white.  Her two grandmothers, one white, one African American, are strong and important influences in her life.   Maywood also has an ancestor who was a famous African American artist in the early twentieth century, a fictional character, though informed by the life of the real artist, Henry Ossawa Tanner.

In creating my fictional artist, I researched the life of Henry Ossawa Tanner. Like my fictional artist, Tanner was an expatriate who lived most of his life in France in order to escape racism in the Henry Ossawa Tanner by Faith RinggoldUnited States. He is the first African American artist whose work was purchased for the White House collection.  (The Clintons acquired the painting.) Too little is known about him in the United States, but with a recent exhibit organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and a catalogue published to accompany it, I hope that will change. An Author’s Note at the end of my book calls attention to his work.

I don’t think I could have found my way to Maywood’s story if I had not been a part of that writing retreat discussion.  Any time I tried to write about race before that, I became bogged down in the politics of bigotry and lost sight of the humanity of my characters.  Talking about the issues in a public forum freed me in a way nothing else had and I remain grateful to have been a part of that conversation.

How, then, do we address the imperative to look forward to a more balanced future against the need to recognize injustice and lack of opportunity where it still occurs?  And, don’t we need to offer hope of something better for young readers?  There are no easy answers.  That much is certain.  I guess one acknowledges which part of the puzzle she’s putting under the microscope and tries to be as honest and fair as possible.

Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this.  I love ReaderKidZ!

And thank you, Sarah, for sharing a piece of the “story behind the story.” 

Would you like to win a signed copy of All That’s Missing?  To enter your name in the drawing, be sure to leave a comment or contact us at readerkidz at readerkidz dot com. Include “ALL THAT’S MISSING Giveaway” in the subject line.

The Cart That Carried Martin

Posted on 09/22/2013

THE CART THAT CARRIED MARTIN by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Don Tate.

Martin Luther King Jr. used his peaceful words to help bridge the cultural and racial divide between African Americans and American Caucasians. He dedicated his life to making the world a better place and to teach love, equality, and acceptance in the hearts of those who feared and felt hatred. Eve Bunting and Don Tate have collaborated to bring us the story about the “humble cart that, not so long ago, carried greatness.” It is a poignant tale that pays tribute to the late reverend and how the American people honored Dr. King. Bunting tells us how an old cart was chosen, painted the color of green grass, and the mules named Belle and Ada picked to carry it through the streets of Atlanta, Georgia as thousands of mourners looked on.

We spoke with illustrator Don Tate and asked him to share his thoughts with young readers about this book and the powerful emotions it stirred within him.

ReaderKidZ: How did you come to illustrate The Cart That Carried Martin? Had you heard about this story before Eve Bunting brought it to the attention of Charlesbridge Publishing?

Tate: I learned about the book while finalizing illustrations for Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite Duke Ellington(Charlesbridge, 2011). My editor for that project, Yolanda Scott, inquired about my interest and availability for the Eve Bunting book, and I was on board immediately. Then she told me about the subject matter: The day of Dr. King’s funeral, with a focus on the cart that carried his casket. I paused. 

After reading the manuscript, however, I fell in love with the story. It was unique. I could think of many children’s books about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but I couldn’t think of another story that addressed his funeral. It was a momentous day. 1,300 people crowded into the service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Between 50,000 and 100,000 followed behind the wooden cart that carried his casket. It was a three-and-a-half-mile procession that led past the Georgia State Capitol building to a second ceremony at Morehouse College. I was awestruck by the photographs, and surprised the story hadn’t been told before as a children’s book.

ReaderKidZ: What emotions stirred within you in taking on this project? Did you feel any greater sense of responsibility? Any added pressure that you put on yourself to do it justice?  

Tate: For this book, I experienced the full gamut of emotions, from deeply sad to happy and inspired. Sad about what happened to a great man. Happy and inspired by the change he created for black and white people.

I scoured the internet for pictures of the procession. Surprisingly, there was no shortage of images of the procession (The Atlanta History Center also has a wonderful online archive with aerial views). I collected thousands of photos — the wooden cart, people in mourning, Dr. King lying in his casket. Some days I was left downright depressed. And yes, because the subject dealt with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I felt a greater sense of responsibility. It’s a sacred topic. I feared getting something wrong.

The story begins by picturing the cart in front of an old antique store where two men found it. Hard as I tried, I could not find a photograph of the exact antique store. I had to use some creative license there, and I fretted about that. A researcher at Georgia State University library, however, helped me to locate the area of town where the store likely existed.

My style of illustration was one of the main reasons I was chosen to illustrate this book. While I try not to have a so-called trademark style, my art tends to be light, playful, whimsical, and some have even described my art as cartoony. I worried at first if my art style would mesh well with the subject matter. Later I came to realize my style was exactly what the story needed to lighten things up.

ReaderKidZ: What story did you want to tell through your illustrations?

Tate: The book is about the day of the funeral. It doesn’t delve into King’s life or why he was such an important historical figure. And that’s okay; there are plenty of books out there that deal with all of that. This book demonstrates the sheer numbers of people who came out to celebrate King’s life. It demonstrates the love and reverence people felt for this man. It also exemplifies the virtue of being humble. I strove to capture all of that through my illustrations.

I created the illustrations with acrylic gouache on watercolor paper. I worked quick and loose. For accuracy, I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site where the cart is on display. I took lots of pictures of the cart, as well as the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, recently restored to the way it looked back in the 1960s.

ReaderKidZ: What do you hope children of all cultures find inside this book?

Tate: In one of my favorite scenes from the book, the reader sees the funeral procession, the widow and the family, from above. There are thousands of people in the scene, so obviously I couldn’t paint the details of every little face. What the reader will notice are the various skin tones of the people in the crowd. Everything from dark brown to fair white. Dr. King and the things he fought for, his beliefs — his dream — it was not a black thing. His dream was for everyone. I hope all that came through in the art.

Librarian’s Corner: Our Small World, Part 2

Posted on 09/19/2013

Celebrating diversity is a great way to begin a new school year. It reminds your students that each of them are valued because of, not in spite of, the unique characteristics they possess. “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”  – Maya Angelou

For the youngest readers:

This Is the Way We Go to School: a Book About Children Around the World by Edith Baer and illustrated by Steve Bjorkman (Scholastic, 1990) This simple rhyming picture book shows how children in different countries get to school: by foot and by bus, but also by subway, ferry, and even skis! A list at the end of the book tells in which country each pictured child lives.

For the transitional readers:Wake Up World

Wake Up, World! A Day in the Life of Children Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer in association with Oxfam (Holt, 1999) Meet eight children from places like Vietnam, Ghana, Brazil, and the United States. From waking up and eating breakfast to going to bed, readers will love the photos and descriptions of what life is like for kids just like them in other countries.

For the older readers:If America Were a Village

If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong (Kids Can Press, 2009) If America were a village of only 100 people instead of over 306 million, 27 people would be kids or teenagers, and 4 people would be older than 80 years old. Smith takes statistics about the United States population and makes them easier to visualize.

COUNTING BY 7’s

Posted on 09/17/2013

In Counting by 7’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan (2013 Dial), main character twelve year-old Willow Chance is a genius and she herself admits that she is strange.  “But I know it and that takes the edge off. At least for me.” She’s also a young woman of color adopted and beloved by parents so white, “they are almost blue.” She counts by sevens to reduce anxiety, and is obsessed by botany, growing things, and medical conditions. She’s only ever had one friend, who moved away after fifth grade. Willow tells much of the story in her own drole manner, and those who become her temporary guardians after an accident claims both Willow’s parents, offer other points of view. Nguyen siblings, 14 year-old Mai and 15 year-old Quang-ha, and their mother, Pattie, come to Willow’s aid through a serendipitous string of events.  They are joined by a sad-sack school counselor named Dell Duke, and taxi driver Jairo Hernandez. They all live in Bakersfield, California and together make up a resourceful, highly entertaining and heartwarming family of sorts who triumph over the odds, the system, and all manner of adversity to be together.