The Cats in Krasinski Square

by Karen Hesse

Book Overview

Newbery medalist Karen Hesse tells a harrowing, true story about life in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.
When Karen Hesse came upon a short article about cats out-foxing the Gestapo at the train station in Warsaw during WWII, she couldn't get the story out of her mind. The result is this stirring account of a Jewish girl's involvement in the Resistance. At once terrifying and soulful, this fictional account, borne of meticulous research,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439435404
• ISBN13: 9780439435406
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 12.4" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

INSPIRATIONAL AND UNIQUE. EXCELLENT WORK.

They know I can offer only a gentle hand, a tender voice. They have no choice but to come. They belonged once to someone. They slept on sofa cushions and ate from crystal dishes. They purred, furrowing the chest, nuzzling the chins of their beloveds. Thus begins this amazing work by Karen Hess and illustrated by Wendy Watson. This story was taken from a small article the author read concerning the cats of the Warsaw Ghetto during the take-over by the German Army, April 1943. A young Jewish Girl and her sister have escaped the fate suffered by so many, only because they could pass for "Polish," and were able to avoid being confined to this area in Warsaw. They were able to smuggle food to those trapped on the other side. Having problems finding food for themselves, a plan was made to bring food in from outside the city. Somehow the Gestapo found out about these plans and made their own plans to capture those who were trying to bring the food in. The young girl, her sister, and others gathered the now stray cats from Krasinski Square, secreted them in bundles and were waiting at the station when the smugglers brought the bundles of food into the station. At just the moment when the Gestapo closed in with their dogs, the people released the cats and in the pandemonium which followed the people were able to escape with their food bundles. My goodness, what a lovely work, used to tell of such a horrible even in our history. The author's flawless use of simple free verse is most effective in this case. The artist's light, almost glowing use of the brush and color adds almost a surrealistic feel to such a dark event. To be frank, I cannot remember reading anything quite like this work. The bravery of the little girl in the story, along with her sister and others involved in getting food to those being held is quite inspiring. Knowing of the absolute bravery of the young men and women fighting against what could arguable be the most evil a cowardly organization known in the world to that date, is inspiring beyond words. Many young men and women did escape the Warsaw Ghetto uprising to fight again another day, but many more did not. Note that I mention only "young men and women" here. The stark reality was that all the very young and the old had long since been sent to their doom at internment camps; by the tens of thousands. All that were left were those young and strong enough to work as slave labor in plants and factories. Now I will say that this is a wonderful and well written work. I personally would not feel comfortable using it as an introduction to the Holocaust with the age group to which it is targeted which is grades two through five. If this book is read, it should be read with

Or how cats became heroes

Once upon a time in a far away place, there lived a bad man, a very bad man. In fact this man was so good at being bad that he convinced the people of his country that he was a good man. Not only that, he convinced them he was the man for the job, the job of leading their government. So he did. Then he convinced his people that there were enemies living right there in their country and they should remove them. But inside his government where there were dark secrets, this bad man decided to create a Final Solution for dealing with these enemies within. Years later and still unto this day, many writers and historians and journalists have tried to explain how this bad man gained such power to do the awful things he did. Karen Hesse and Wendy Watson combined talents to create "The Cats in Krasinski Square," in their effort to show one tiny moment in this ugly episode of history, the Holocaust of Jews, first in Germany, then rapidly spreading to other Germanic countries and conquered ones in World War II. In Poland in Warsaw in the Jewish community, walls were built to keep in Jews and keep out non-Jews. Simply an early phase of the Final Solution. Separate the Jews into ghettos, then collect them in cattle cars to take them to the concentration camps, then eliminate their existence through crematoriums--the Final Solution. Notice the massing together at each phase, attempting to make negligible their humanity. The cats in Krasinski Square are homeless because of the rounding up and crowding together of the Jews. The cats thrive on mice, but they miss their former masters. People outside the ghettos, both non-Jews and Jews able to escape and pass as Polish, keep the cats socialized by the attention they give them (see cover for an example). A nameless girl, a Polish Jew, who escaped the ghetto, is the narrator of this simple, but heroic act to get food inside the ghetto. There are many holes in the walls, the escape hatch for the cats who come and go, seeking mice. It also is the entryway for food. For this particular episode, friends will arrive on trains with satchels of food to bestow in the holes of the walls. Unfortunately, the Gestapo knows and waits with hungry dogs. The cats are used as lures for the dogs, who go after them instead of the food. Food disappears into the walls and starvation is staved again for a while longer. That is the essence of the story. A great story. The other half of this wonderful story is the illustrations. They are done in pencil, ink, and watercolors on Strathmore drawing paper. Watercolors tend to give a transparency to the subject, providing a dreamy cast. Watson also uses dark colors, possibly pencil, to provide a ominous overcast to every scene, then offsetting each with an orange glow, perhaps suggestive of hope and action. This is such a perfect pairing, words and illustrations to convey a message of action through hope and hope leading to action. A must-read book for every public, school, and home librar

Social Commentary

I picked this book for an elementary school in Bronx,NY as a donation to their Read-A-Loud Celebration. I only saw the title and had no idea about the content. It is a great book to spark student interest in the holocaust. If you are a cat lover, it is an added bonus. But be warned, the story is dark.

Cat rescues

I've always been a bit skittish about fictionalizing events from WWII in children's picture books. When done well (as with Roberto Innocenti's, "Rose Blanche") it can be a heartfelt way of teaching children about horrific events. When done poorly (as with Carmen Agra Deedy's magnificently insulting/patronizing, "The Yellow Star") it can turn you off of historical picture book fiction completely. Now in the case of Karen Hesse's, "The Cats In Krasinski Square", the story is based on real events the author read in a short article. After researching the event and meticulously making sure she would cite what she changed and what she didn't, Hesse wrote this one-of-a-kind book. It tells the tale of a Jewish girl during WWII and the ways in which stray cats became heroes in their own right. A girl sits on a heap of rubble surrounded by cats. It's Warsaw and the girl has escaped the Jewish ghetto to live hidden in plain sight with her sister. So many Jews had to leave their homes and abandon their pets, that the cats have no one to love them anymore. Says the girl, " `I have no food to spare'. The cats don't care". She loves them and that's all that they need at this time. Heading home again, the girl and her older sister are to participate in a plan to smuggle food to the people of the ghetto. Yet before they do they're told that the supplies coming in on the next train are in danger. Somehow the Gestapo have discovered the plan and are waiting with dogs at the station to sniff out the smugglers. It's the little girl who comes up with a way to lead the dogs astray and give the smugglers the chance they'll need to escape. And all thanks to a basketload of cats. As an author, Hesse is probably better known for her verse novels than her picture books. But her ability to switch formats puts her at no disadvantage. The words in this book are simple and laid out plainly for children to read on their own. Though they say little, they convey the hope and resistance of a beaten-down people. The girl is never named, perhaps because she never existed. But much of this story is true, and the heroism involved is admirable. A tip of the hat as well to illustrator Wendy Watson. Through her subtle colors and shaded hues the story has the soft glow of the 1940s. Light splays out over the cats and buildings beautifully. Watson has obviously studied cat bodies and forms. She knows exactly how to draw a kitty arching its back in the hope of getting stroked or lifting its hind foot to scratch a hard to get itch. I loved the thick black lines that made up each and every scene, as well as the colors used. This is a book of grays, browns, maroons, and soft custard yellows. It's a pleasure to flip through again and again and again. So as WWII picture books go, I think that this one is my favorite. It introduces the subject to children, giving an ample historical note at the back of the text for further reading but doesn't dwell on the darkest

A story to share

Writing for children about the Holocaust takes a special gift. It can be difficult to communicate the horror of those years to young readers without delving into atrocities and concentration camps. Gifted writer Karen Hesse has brought us a true story that can be shared in picture book form. The opening lines of the story set the scene, "The cats come from the cracks in the Wall, the dark corners, the openings in the rubble." The "Wall" is the wall around the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1939, the German Gestapo crowded Jews into this area of the city where the horrible conditions caused starvation, disease and death. The young narrator of the story has escaped the ghetto and is "passing" as an Aryan on the other side of the wall. She fears for her friend Michal who is still inside the ghetto. Her sister, Mira is part of the Resistance and they have a plan to smuggle food to the people behind the wall. When the Germans find out about the plan and move to thwart it, the Resistance turns to the abandoned cats of the city to save the day and the food. Wendy Watson's illustrations are lovely. Her style and color palette take us back to this time period. Seeing the pictures of the merry-go-round and the holes in the wall was especially evocative having just read Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli.