Wiviott, M. (2010). Benno and the Night of Broken Glass. Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben.Author: Meg Wiviott
Website: http://megwiviott.com/
Illustrator: Josée Bisaillon
Website: http://joseebisaillon.com/
Media Used (discussed in detail): Bisaillon uses a mixture collage, drawings and digital montage to create the illustrations. The collage illustrations work well with the material being discussed. It helps to add a stark or sharp edged look which fits in with the chaos of Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass). I particularly like the way Bisaillon depicts fire, complete with the flickering shadows a fire casts, within the illustrations. The images of book burning particularly stuck with me, as did the image of the professor laying on the floor before being dragged away. The people Benno visits regularly are fully depicted with a range of expressions that reflect the mood of the story. Bisaillon made an appropriate choice to only show the reader the legs and shadows of the "men in the brown shirts." It helps the reader to imagine the faceless mobs that gathered as well invoked a feeling of fear and dread.
Summary: Follow Benno the cat as his peaceful neighborhood changes as people's attitudes towards Jews change in 1938 Germany. Learn what happens to the neighborhood when the men in the brown shirts come and destroy Jewish businesses and homes.
Personal Reaction: This book was suggested to me by a friend at work when I mentioned that I was looking for a book that deals with cultural and acceptance. I thought that in teaching people to accept one another, we must also look at what happens when people do exactly the opposite. This book shows what happened near the beginning of the Nazi movement against Jews. It shows the changes in people's attitudes towards one another as a result. It illustrates how mistrust and violence is the first step towards war.
Use of Alliteration: "The air filled with screams and shouts, sounds of shattering and splintering glass."
Curricular Connection: 10th grade history
California Standard 10.8: Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.
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