Who Was the Woman Who Wore the Hat?
Grade 2-5-In this reflective poem drawn from a visit to the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, Patz recalls an exhibit she saw and asks, "Who was the woman/who wore the hat/I saw in the Jewish Museum?/What was she like?" In proselike poetry, the author poses questions about what the woman ate, whether she took cream in her coffee, and how she tilted her hat when she wore it. She reflects on whether the woman wore it the day she was arrested and taken to the Square in the Jewish Quarter. How did she know what she should pack, "Or how many sweaters/to put on each of her children-." Patz dramatically states on a spread with white letters against black paper that the hat might have belonged to her mother, herself, or you, the reader. Sepia-tone drawings and copies of old photographs are intentionally mixed together in a fragmentary manner, so as to "convey a sense of loss," as Patz states in the author's note. Loss is the perfect word for this simple, mournful poem reminding readers that the victims of the Holocaust went shopping, drank coffee, and wore hats like everybody else.Leslie Barban, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SCCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.