Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story | TheBookSeekers

Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story


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No. of pages 48

Published: 2019

Great for age 3-10 years

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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 cousins 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? Both a heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, Gittels Journey offers a fresh perspective on the immigration journey to Ellis Island. The book includes an authors note explaining how Gittels story is based on the journey to America taken by Lesla Newmans grandmother and family friend.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book has been graded for interest at 5-8 years.

There are 48 pages in this book.

This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+).

This book was published in 2019 by Abrams .

Amy June Bates has illustrated books including the Sam the Man series, Sweet Dreams and That's What I'd Do , both by singer-songwriter Jewel; and Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan. She lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with her husband and three children.

 

This book has been nominated for the following award:

Sydney Taylor Book Award - Younger Readers
This book was recognised in the Younger Readers category by the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

"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

 

"Leslea Newman has drawn from two stories told in her family for the beautiful picture book "Gittel's Journey", a moving account of a young Jewish girl's voyage from czarist Russia to America... In Amy June Bates's superb illustrations, framed by woodcut-style borders, we see the child, so small in the world of adults, her red scarf bright amid the muted hues of the late 19th century." -- Wall Street Journal

 

"A book about immigration, as seen through the eyes of a child who makes the journey to America alone and must find her way in a strange new world." -- The New York Post