The Number on My Grandfather's Arm
Grade 1-4 A loving relationship between a young girl and her grandfather is por trayed in text and black-and-white pho tographs. When the girl notices a num ber tattooed on her grandfather's arm, her grandfather tells her of the atroc ities committed by the Nazis against the Jews, even describing Auschwitz, the camp he was in. ``We were no longer people to them. We were numbers.'' Moved, the young girl comforts her grandfather. The deceptively simple vocabulary does not limit the dignity of the text. Because of the subject matter, this would work best when presented by an adult with preparatory and fol low-up discussion, but it offers just enough information and emotion for primary grade children to handle. That this really happened to a beloved grand father makes the horror more immedi ate and realistic, and offers a different approach than the more allegorical one taken in Promise of a New Spring (Ros sell, 1981) by Gerda Klein. Adler has succeeded admirably in his attempt to explain the inexplicable. An important book for everyone concerned with hu man rights. Micki S. Nevett, Temple Beth Emeth Library, Albany, N.Y.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.