Brundibar

Description: Based on a Czech opera for children that was performed 55 times by the children of the Terezin Nazi concentration camp, this tale of two children bullied by a bellowing hurdy-gurdy grinder is now told in this storybook. Illustrations.

Review Quotes: * "Working in colored pencils, crayons and brush pens, Sendak conjures bustling Slavic city streets and effectively juxtaposes innocence and evil in the cherubic visages of the children and Brundibar's ominously hyperbolic facial features (the villain's manicured mustache calls to mind the reigning tyrant of the time).... The story is ultimately one of hope, as the children and their allies band together to defeat the evil foe. The collaborators wisely allow readers to appreciate the story on one level, yet those familiar with the opera's origins (a note on the flap copy tells of Krása's death at Auschwitz) will find a haunting subtext here. All ages."--Publishers Weekly