I hope to begin writing reviews on various children's books and sharing them here on Friday. With yesterday being Holocaust Remembrance Day, I have chosen the book PASSAGE TO FREEDOM: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki. The book is illustrated by Dom Lee with an afterwards by Hiroki Sugihara.
I give the book a five star review.
A story of diversity, tolerance, compassion, and morality, PASSAGE TO FREEDOM will engage readers of all ages. Written expressly for children ages six to eleven, the book lends itself to being read aloud by a primary care giver or teacher, providing an opportunity for age appropriate discussions.
Written in first person prose, the author takes the reader to Lithuania in 1940 where Hiroki Sugihara's father is a Japanese diplomat. The family lives in an upstairs dwelling, and his father works on the ground level of the building. When the building is surrounded by Polish speaking Jews seeking visas to escape persecution by the Nazis, the young boy peeks through the curtains of his home, and witnesses the desperateness of the situation. The Jews want to travel east through the Soviet Union to seek asylum in Japan. His father has the ability to write visas for their travel and he is left with a decision. Will he obey the leaders of his own country who have told him not to write the Visas or will he follow his heart and attempt to give them the paperwork they need to travel?
Through a series of events, the whole family becomes involved. As the story unfolds, not only do the decisions made affect the lives of the refugees, but Hiroki's life is impacted as well. This book has the ability to make a lasting impression on its readers.
Expertly crafted and engaging, the story is an excellent resource to approach a difficult subject with younger readers.
NOTE: If you want to preview this book before reading it aloud to children in your care, you can view a PDF copy
here. You can also view the read aloud version on YouTube at
this link.