by Sam Juliano
Oskar’s mother and father were firm believers in blessings. They lit the menorah, and were confident their faith would insure their safety. Then, on November 9, 1938 many German Jews found their homes and places of business damaged, synagogues destroyed and many people murdered. Thousands of windows were shattered in the most vicious pogrom ever perpetuated against the Jews, and the name “The Night of the Broken Glass” (Reichskristallnacht) was ascribed to the two day assault. In the soulful picture book Oskar and the Eight Blessings by Richard and Tanya Simon with Mark Siegel serving as illustrator, this pre-title page prologue visualizes this horrific event by showing a horizontal triptych with smoke billowing from a synagogue, the frenzied feet of the perpetrators, and a Jewish family in hiding.
For some Jews the writing was clearly on the wall, and these opted not to wait very long. Armed only with a photo of his never seen Aunt Esther and his father’s priceless last words “Oskar, even in bad times, people can be good. You have to look for the blessings,” the boy is boarded on a ship to New York City, whose skyline comes into focus on the expansive title page spread when the cruiser arrives in the harbor. In a wonderful kinship of the Jewish and Christian religions the Simons have Oskar arrive on the seventh day of Hannakah, which also happens to be Christmas Eve. While a seagull perches on a wooden dock support, with the Statue of Liberty in the background, Oskar again examines the photo of his aunt, simultaneously realizing that to arrive at her home in time for the lighting of the menorah at sunset he’d have to successfully negotiate one hundred blocks up Broadway. Oskar was awe-struck by the immense size of the big city, and how he was merely a dwarf in it, and “Broadway stretched before him like a river.” Inevitably Oskar by then was tired, cold and hungry. His first encounter was New York City’s version of the bird lady in Mary Poppins, who is feeding pigeons. She hands Oskar a morsel to feed them, but she understands when he eats it himself. She then gives him a full loaf, kept warm and fresh inside her coat.
Next the boy comes upon a newsstand that displays Action Comics, including the Superman who stops bullets and trains. He picks it up to read, and the seller puts out his hand to be paid. Oskar of course was penniless, so he gave back the comic only to be called by the man, who provocatively lets Oskar have it as a Christmas present. Siegel’s art for this interchange is arresting, showing this newsstand operator as a symbol of charity. The comic can be seen in the boy’s pupil, as his senses are overwhelmed by this kind gesture. One can only wonder if the Simons were even thinking about the Superman story when they wrote this encounter into the narrative, but the Man of Steel’s parents Joe-El and Lara sent him as an infant on a small rocket-ship to Earth just as their planet Krypton was self-destructing. As Oskar clutches his unexpected gift, he hears his father’s words about the basic goodness of people and heads north past the Flatiron Building on 23rd and then through the movie and theater district, where the follies are running in one house and the now perennial 1938 classic A Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen was on the venue. He passes Macy’s at Herold Square which is flanked on the right only a block away by the Empire State Building, which was only seven years old. Oskar, realizing that you must look for the blessings gazes at a magical winterscape display, and is fully seduced by the fairy.
Oskar then reaches the third big numbered cross street on Broadway (after 23 and 34) when he hears music from an alley on the corner of 57th. A big man was carrying a jazzy tune. Siegel again answers the call with some gorgeous art in the music note panels that allow the boy to share the universal language with the iconic Count Basie who is set to perform at Carnegie Hall. While snowflakes float through the air like small cotton balls, colored notes denote there is something truly wonderful in the air, a true moment of exaltation. Then at corner of a park (Central Park near Columbus Circle) Oskar witnesses a snowball fight, and in a series of life-affirming vignettes Siegel brings visual life to mutual generosity. Oskar gets a pair of red mittens, but gifts the boy with his Superman comic. A few blocks later he chances upon the Apthorp Hotel, with an gated entrance that resembles the Dakota. A tall lady in a big coat crosses his path, but at her insistence he is allowed to pass, “Oh, Thomas, he’s just a child,” the lady says to the policeman. He then hears that the woman is none other than Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady. Forced to accelerate if he was to make his aunt’s before sunset Oskar stumbles and falls under trampling feet but a hand reaches down and pulls him up. The was purchasing a Christmas tree. Just then Oskar thought of his father’s comment to him: “People can be good.”
He reaches his aunt as the snow has slightly intensified, and their realization of who each other is leads to a moving finale. In a touching author’s note Simon relates a story about three rabbis who visited New York City in 1938, only to inexplicably return to Europe, where they perished in the Holocaust. As a boy who never understood the implications of the terror, much less the Final Solution, Simon, who grew up on Long island cherished the history of the city, and visited there often. The creation of Oskar was to keep hope alive. A wonderful map of NYC that includes Oskar’s trail and stops is pictorially annotated and impressively mounted.
Siegel’s comic book style, gray and brown-tinted art evokes the brooding images of film noir far more than it does laughter, and the pervading element is mystery, much as it is in The Polar Express. The city is sketched as a place of unremitting energy, and masses of people attending to their business during the holiday season. Many of the drawings are seared in the memory: the weathered, kind face of the news stand seller; Oskar’s glowing eyes that reflect some of his gifts; his wide-eyed astonishment of the winter wonderland behind the glass; the kaliedescopic encounter with Count Basie, which unveils a common language; the mutual gift giving in the park documented in a series of exhilarating vignettes, and the heartfelt embrace with Aunt Esther in snowy austerity. The illustrator works with muted colors that are purposely old-fashioned to denote the 30’s. The size differentiation helps move along the Simon’s text with a kind of cinematic urgency. Whether Siegel goes full page, divides the pages in two or three, or presents the smaller-paneled vignettes the story moves forward with accentuated anticipation. A time and a place has been mysteriously and lovingly recreated. The cover set near the Flat Iron Building is hauntingly elicited, featuring the book’s resilient doe-eyed, lonely protagonist commencing upon uncharted waters, and the back extends the picture of the city experiencing that all-too-rare Christmas Eve snowfall.
Oskar and the Eight Blessings is the best children’s picture book about Hannukkah since 1989’s Caldecott Honor book Herschel and the Hannukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel and Trina Schart Hyman, but in the stirring way it integrates the common principles in the Jewish and Christian faiths it stands alone. It’s message is that people are inherently good. Chaplin said as much in his famous speech in The Great Dictator. Many prominent philosophers have asserted the same. The Simons and Siegel have sent the world a reminder of the basic goodness of human nature, and have gifted their book reading audience young and old a story of multiple blessings from above in a steaming metropolis inherently prone to indifference because of mass. It is a story of hope and resilience. It is a story about divine consecration. It is a story that will surely move Caldecott voters deeply during this holiday season and beyond.
Note: This is the twenty-second review in the 2015 Caldecott Contender series that will be published at this site over the coming months, up until the January 11th scheduled awards date. The books that will be examined are not necessarily ones that are bonafide contenders in the eyes of the voting committee, but rather the ones this writer feels should be. The order they will be presented is arbitrary as some of my absolute favorites will be presented near the end.
Sam, your timing and illumination have never been more exciting! The superb Machine-Age graphics accompany insights that will never grow old!
Once again your word economy is astounding my friend! How true what you say about the graphics and the universal message. Thank you for the kind words, and Merry Christmas!
What an amazing book Sam. I wasn’t even aware this was out there. Your timing really enhances the theme, though as you note this is for all times of the year. Siegel’s art should definitely be in the running for the Caldecott!
So passionately written. Merry Christmas!
Thanks so very much Frank! Yes, this book is a keeper in every sense, and an instant holiday classic. Thanks so much for the very kind words. Merry Christmas my friend!
Yet another fine review, Sam! Hard not to feel emotional about a book on this topic, and so beautifully illustrated!
All best wishes for the season and for 2016 to you and yours.
How right you are there John. A misty eyes experience, but a book that inspires. Thank you so much, here’s to special Christmas for you and Pam!
Sam, this really worked out perfectly! Nice that the year includes a book about the holidays, and better yet to address the Jewish and Christian faiths. I’m sure with you constant trips to Manhattan see films and opera you probably found yourself following Oskar up Broadway.
The book would seem to have a bittersweet projection, but the writing and art are lyrical. Beautifully written and probing review.
Yes, Peter, the timely was set several weeks back. A holiday classic and a book to revisit many times. Yes as a Manhattan regular I was excited when I first came upon it. How true what you say about the book’s pervading lyricism. many thanks my friend. Merry Christmas!
A book like this will suddenly become relevant every year at this time. But as you say it can be appreciated and enjoyed any time of the year.
Sam – You keep bowling me over with your exquisite reviews; this book is no exception. And though the book delivers a global message for every day of the year, your timing is impeccable!
Thank you so very much Laurie! Yes there is universality in this prose and art, and I was happy to negotiate the timing.
The illustrations are so tuned in on time and place. Beautifully written review.
Great observation Tim. Thanks for the kind words.
Love your timing. Beautifully written piece on a book that brilliantly integrates the prose and art. I well remember the book you compare it to as well – Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins.
Ah, we are on the same page with Herschel, my friend. Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment and kind words.
Yet another Juliano Caldecott review I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Thanks so much for the time you invest in sharing the depth of each book you review. Often time reviews are so topical and it is truly refreshing to read your passion for each book in a way that entices your audience to rush
out and get each book. 🙂
Brenda, thanks so much for expanding your reading of the series, and for those beautiful words in my behalf. To hear you acknowledge the time -admittedly so true- that is invested is music to my ears. My wife has had the patience of a saint when it comes to this series, though she thoroughly enjoys it. Your final words are the greatest compliment of all. Meeting you my friend, was an expected joy. Thank you!