Brundibar

by Tony Kushner and Kushner

Book Overview

From the legendary imagination of Maurice Sendak--creator of beloved classic Where the Wild Things Are--comes a classic tale of children cleverly overcoming a bully, retold by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner.

Brundibar is based on a 1938 Czech opera for children that was performed fifty-five times by the children of Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp. When Aninku and Pepicek discover one morning that their...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786809043
• ISBN13: 9780786809042
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 11.0" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Amazing Book

Arrived within the stated parameters. Condition as stated. Heard about the story and the book on NPR and had to see it. I was not disappointed!

Great for kids and adults

You're kids will love the illustrations and the story at face value. You will gain a little more out of it by knowing the background of how Brundibar was written and performed. A haunting classic.

Another Gift from Maurice Sendak

My six-year-old home-schooled son is picky when it comes to books. He loves "Where the Wild Things Are" so I checked this out of the library. We read it at least a dozen times before it had to be returned and he keeps talking about it. The words roll off the tongue, though the story has that dark element (like Roald Dahl's stories) that challenges your own comfort . The pictures are a feast. And though the kids don't know it yet, the historical setting has been planted so that when we study WWII later, they might remember the little children with the gold stars. So now I must buy a copy. Hope you and your family will enjoy it too. Thank you, Mr. Kushner & Mr. Sendak.

Wow.

I think I'm qualified to say whether a book has real quality as a book for kids--this one does. The story is lovely, a straight-forward folktale/teaching story on the importance of working together to overcome adversity. The language glitters and charms, as anyone who has seen Tony Kushner's plays would expect. And Maurice Sendak's illustrations are his most lucid, enchanting and charming since In The Night Kitchen. My five-year-old loved it, loves the story of two enterprising children defeating an adult bully, and has asked to have it read for the past few nights, since we got the book. The backstory of the book--the fact that it is based on an opera written by the children of Teresienstadt concentration camp--is hinted at very subtly. If one is aware enough to pick up the clues (ranging from a gateway that reads "Arbeit Macht Frei," like the entrance to Auschwitz, to the yellow stars marking Jewish characters, to the barely legible program from the premiere of the opera, behind a handwritten note), the story is there. I found it gave the story a depth and resonance that stayed with me. If, on the other hand, you don't know about it--I certainly wasn't going to point it out to my kids, just yet--the book still works beautifully. All in all, this is a beautiful work from two of the most remarkable artists who have been active in American popular culture in the last fifty years.

An Instant Classic

Brundibar is another complex yet simple Sendak work. Tony Kushners lyrical prose matches perfectly with Sendak's incredibly vivid and beautiful illustrations. Like other Sendak works, this book has several levels. It's a great kids story about bullies and how they can be dealt with. On a more adult level, its about how WWII and the Holocost affected the children of Europe, christian as well as jewish. The text is adapted by Kushner from the libretto of the Opera by the same name. While the words stand up well on their own, the book flys on the wings of Sendaks wonderful art. Several stories are told within the story if the reader pays close attention to the details present in every illustration. This book is destined to be a classic. (...) and buy a timeless piece of art from people who helped define the artform of the picture book.