Violin of Hope

Gr 2-4–The story of a well-loved violin that was seized by Nazis from a Jewish family in World War II. Locked in a dark, moist cellar, will it ever be able to play Yiddish music again? The book is composed like a prose poem, with special attention to rhythm and flow, and is best read aloud. It is based on “Violins of Hope,” a project where Jewish craftspeople restore instruments all but destroyed during WWII, as both a memorial and a celebration of the human spirit. The book tells the story of one such violin over nearly a hundred years. The color palette includes saturated ivories and teal greens, lending a vintage feeling to the modern illustrations. The pictures have a sketched quality, and they darken and brighten with the tone of the story. Most characters depicted are identified as Jewish, and there are a few Yiddish words as well; there are also a few hard-faced German soldiers.