Reviews

Wren and the Sparrow by J. Patrick Lewis, Yevgenia Nayberg

suzannekm's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a lovely story and well illustrated. But I don't think it's a children's book. It calls itself a holocaust fable and it will be much too dark for most parents reading to their children.

Could be used as a conversation opener with an older child, but I highly recommend reading it yourself before sharing with a child.

backonthealex's review against another edition

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4.0

It's hard to imagine that such a lyrical story could be written about a time as terrible as the Holocaust, but that is exactly what J. Patrick Lewis has done in this new picture book allegory.

The story takes place in a small town in Poland that has shriveled up under the occupation of the Tyrant and his Guards. Living in shadow, an old man nightly plays his hurdy-gurdy, singing so beautifully, he is called the Wren by his neighbors. He has on music student - a young girl called the Sparrow with fiery red hair.

One day, the Guards order all the residents of the town to turn in their musical instruments. The Wren brings his beloved hurdy-gurdy but begs to allowed to play one more song before handing it in. As he plays, the whole town begins to sing. At the end of his song, the old man gives his instrument to the Guards and disappeared himself, never to be seen again.

The instruments are all thrown into a pile to be destroyed later. But later that night, the Sparrow sneaks into the storage area and finds the hurdy-gurdy. Inside it is a hidden note from the Wren to the Sparrow. She takes the instrument and note and hides the them in the hope that they will survive the war and be found in the future and that the finder will know exactly what happened in this small town in Poland and the world will never forget.

I think this is a wonderful example of an allegorical story, Allegory, you will remember, is typically used as a literary device that uses symbolic figures, events etc for revealing a more complex issue or meaning in a work with a moral or political message. Here, Lewis uses symbolic types rather than realistic characters, - the Wren, the Sparrow, the Guards, the Tyrant - in an abstract setting - a small town in Poland - to achieve maximum impact of this Holocaust story about the Nazi occupation and the the fate of Europe's Jews. The result is a powerful multi-layered picture book for older readers that should not be missed.

Patrick's words and text reminded me of the way Expressionist writers sought to convey feelings and emotions in an anxious world. Here his words are simple and elegant in contrast to his topic, but at the same time so very ominous. Unlike Eve Bunting's excellent Terrible Things: an Allegory of the Holocaust, another picture book for older readers, which ends on a note of hopelessness, The Wren and the Sparrow sees hope for the future.

Perhaps following Patrick's lead, Yevgenia Nayberg's expressionistly styled illustrations are painted in a dark palette of yellows, greens and browns that ends in a lighter illustration done in bright blue-green at the end, symbolizing a message that even in the darkest of days, hope can survive. Illustrations and text compliment and enhance each other throughout this allegory.

And be sure to read the Afterword at the end of the story that explains how Lewis was inspired by the street musicians and performers in the Lodz Ghetto. In fact, performers and music were a sustaining force in ghetto life under the Nazis and Lewis has written a beautiful homage to them in The Wren and the Sparrow.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

This review was originally posted on The Children's War

middle_name_joy's review against another edition

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5.0

Recently, I was struck mesmerized by PBS documentary, Violins of Hope: Strings of the Holocaust, following an Israeli violinmaker who collects and restores stringed instruments once owned by inmates of concentration camps during WWII. It doesn’t seem a coincidence that less than two weeks later, The Wren and the Sparrow comes into my hands.

Former U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Patrick J. Lewis crafts an allegory of the Shoah with an old man, Wren, and his hurdy-gurdy, an instrument similar in sound to a violin. The hurdy-gurdy comes to represent the spirit and tradition of the Jews, so when it is hidden away by Sparrow, the Wren’s young student, and found after the war, it’s existence proves the strength of a people and reason for remembrance. An Afterword gives details on the story’s inspiration, stemming primarily from the klezmer street performers in the Lodz Ghetto.

This review has been difficult for me to construct because the book is as layered as the story’s symbolism. Yevgenia Nayberg’s illustrations make a nod to Marc Chagall’s cubism and Jewish roots, particularly Green Violinist (1924) and The Fiddler (1913). It’s rare when a picture book goes to such lengths to capture the essence of time and tradition--all while honoring those whose lives deserve memoriam.

theecatreaders's review against another edition

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informative inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

tortitudereads's review

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5.0

The Wren and the Sparrow made my eyes well up! The box is exquisitely illustrated and story represents light and resistance during dark times.

tashrow's review

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4.0

This Holocaust story tells of an old man who weaved carpets on a loom and spent his evening singing to a hurdy-gurdy. His student, the Sparrow, learned at his side. The town in Poland was dark and dismal, all of its trees harvested for kindling. Food and clothes were rationed and even the music was starting to disappear. One day music was removed from the village as soldiers arrived to gather all of the musical instruments and take them away. Everyone had to give up their instruments, but the old man sang one final song before he put his hurdy-gurdy on the pile. And he would not stop singing, even as he was dragged away. That night, the Sparrow returned and took the hurdy-gurdy from the pile and hid it away. Then she too disappeared. It was found years later with a note that spoke of the bravery of both the Wren and the Sparrow and the importance of music in keeping spirits alive in dark times.

Based on the musicians who played in the Lodz Ghetto, a place that housed 230,000 Jewish people in 1940. Only 1000 survived the Holocaust that followed. Music was a part of their life and that celebration of music as a way of expressing feelings that could not be voiced is very clear in this picture book. Lewis writes with intense beauty in this book, the strong feelings showing in his sentences such as “The town shriveled up like a rose without rain.” And the image of “the gift of music soon dwindled to a sigh.” The entire book sings with prose like this, adding its own music to the story.

The illustrations by Nayberg, a native of Ukraine, show the darkness of the times. The illustrations swim with the colors of war, khaki ground and the gray of despair. When the instrument and music are present though, there is a glow and a warmth that shines in the illustration visually capturing the impact of the music on people around.

This allegorical tale captures the impact of the Nazi regime in Poland and elsewhere, offering a lesson about the power of music to carry hope in the darkest of times. Appropriate for ages 5-7.
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