The Cats in Krasinski Square

Jews in the poor walled section of Warsaw are starving. Jews who are passing as Poles along with the help of cats manage to get food to the hungry. It's an interesting story that is based on account the author read. While the illustrations are good, many younger readers would probably prefer a few

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more colors in the palette used.

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The author’s note and historical note describe how Hesse read and researched this story and provide readers with a bit of background on Jewish resistance. Except for one scene, the simplistic illustrations mask the tension and daring of the resistance movement and of the tenuous plight of Jews

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who posed as Poles. However, this tension could be a starting point for discussion.

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The spare text and gentle illustrations bring a heroic moment in occupied Poland at the beginning of World War II to children in an age appropriate manner. Beautifully done and a story worth telling.

The Cats in Krasinski Square is based on a true story. It tells of how cats were used to outsmart the Gestapo during WWII so that food could be smuggled to the Jews in Warsaw, Poland. Given the subject matter, the story has a more serious tone than many picture books and the neutral tones used in

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the illustrations seem to echo that. Still, the climax of the story is somewhat humorous and the writing is beautiful, almost lyrical. It also has the benefit of being educational. The author includes some historical background at the end of the book which may actually be more beneficial if read first, especially for those who are not familiar with the situation in Poland at that time period. In my opinion, part of what makes this story great is that it can be read on several different levels depending on a child’s level of understanding. Highly recommended!

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It can be very hard to write about the Holocaust for children. Either you water down the subject so much that you trivialize it, or you give them nightmares for a year and a day. This goes doubly or triply for picture books, where the young age of your readers has to be taken into account. And of

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course you want a story with a hero, not just victims, if at all possible. (The truth is that there isn't much to say about the Holocaust that you can say to kids. It boils down to "It was a terrible time, and a lot of people died".)

This book manages to convey the appropriate emotions of hiding and fear ("I wear my Polish look and my Polish walk, Polish words float from my lips") without showing too strongly any actual brutality. The author doesn't shy away from the hard, and pertinent, issue of hunger; and we can see the soldiers on nearly every page, but we don't explicitly see any violence either. And the book ends on a relatively high note - they outsmart the Germans and their dogs, and get food into the Ghetto, including a special bundle for her friend who is inside, despite the danger of the location. Younger children will pick up on the accomplishment, older ones will understand (or begin to ask) about why this happened.

The afterword is particularly informative.

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This book is based on a true story. It tells of a little girl and how her family used cats to outsmart the Gestapo so that food could be given to the Jews who were living in the Warsaw ghetto. It would be a great book to use in teaching about the holocaust and WWII. The writing in this book is

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beautiful. Almost any child can benefit from reading this or having it read to them.

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This is a moving story of the Jewish Resistance in the Warsaw ghetto, with lovely illustrations, but I wonder how many of the target audience (9-12) will really understand the underlying tragedy? They will understand that the cats saved the day, but I believe that quite a bit of explanation will be

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necessary. Perhaps that is a good thing.

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This story is powerful and incredible. The author does an extraordinary job of making the audience aware on factual and emotional levels about the horrors faced by the Polish Jews during this time. It is brilliant how the cats frame the story emotionally and strategically. "They belonged once to

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someone. They slept on sofa cushions and ate from crystal dishes. They purred, furrowing the chests, nuzzling the chins of their beloveds." The cats, as the girl in the story, find courage, strength, and creativity to survive. This story is a triumph that could easily have been a tragedy if the little girl had not thought to use the cats to divert the soldiers at the train station where people were bringing in food to smuggle into the Ghetto. The author based the story on first-hand accounts of a young girl and also a report of cats diverting Gestapo soldiers from their targets.

The illustrations in the book looked like watercolor or pastel. And while pleasing to look at in and of themselves, I found myself not really paying any attention to them as I read the story. I believe that an elementary student however, might spend a lot of time pondering the pictures.

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Personal feelings & growth(1) picture book(7) Poland(2) read aloud(1) setting(2) Social Issues(1) voice(1) war(2) warsaw(2) Warsaw ghetto(2) wwii(8)

This book describes the conditions of the Warsaw Ghetto and the people who live just outside of it and try to help others inside the Ghetto get food. The tone of this book is harrowing and really connects the reader to the emotions of fear and constant danger. This book would be a good way to begin

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learning about the Jewish Ghettos during the Holocaust. It would work particularly well for a younger age group so that students could relate to the young girl depicted in the story. Reading level: Grade 3.5

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interesting book about real history. Good way to discuss holocost.

A wonderful book showing how a small group of Jews outsmarted the Nazis outside of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Karen Hesse has written and Wendy Watson has illustrated a wonderful book based on a true story. Ms. Hesse mentioned in the Author's Note that in 2001 she came across a short article about cats

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outfoxing the Gestapo at the train station in Warsaw during World War II. In this particular book, The Cats in Karsinski Square, Resistance fighters were bringing food into the Ghetto and the Germans found out about it. There with their dogs, the Gestapo was ready to make arrests. However, other Resistance let cats loose in the station, diverting the attention of the dogs. So simple, yet so effective.

The Cats in Krasinski Square is a straightforward story well worth the short time it will take to read. It is up to the standards we expect from Karen Hesse.

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Out of the Dust is one of my favorite Newbery Medal books. Thus, I'm not surprised at the emotional impact this book rendered.

Based on true stories of strong, brave individuals who lived on the outside of the Warsaw Ghetto and, at the risk of life, attempted to save and provide food for those

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walled behind the barriers.

This is a story of a young child who plays with the cats and kittens of Krasinski Square. They have no food, no home and no one to kiss them.

This is a story of the young child's sister Mira who is brave and part of the resistance movement. When the Nazi soldiers learn of a a shipment of food destined to arrive and to be hidden in the cracks and crannies of the wall in order for the prisoners to gain nourishment, it is the cats hidden in baskets who rescue those on the train in danger.

Jumping out of the baskets, creating a flurry of mayhem for the nasty guard dogs and soliders, the food and helpers are saved.

Without too much heavy handedness, and without too much softness, Hesse creates a very valid and real depiction of the difficulties faced by all who were not deemed worthy to live.

Highly recommended.

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This story was truly wonderful. Stories of WWII German occupation usually are a bit too much for me to handle, but this was one of the better stories. The clever plan created to help the people of the Warsaw Ghetto get a shipment of food and supplies was really well told. If someone is learning the

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story of WWII, this is a good book to include in their reading.

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I loved this book! The first reason I loved this book was for the fact that it was written in non-rhyming prose. For example, the book began with “The cats…come…from the cracks in the wall,…the dark corners,…the openings in the rubble” each line containing a different emotion and

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thought adding to one another. I loved this aspect of the book because it gave the text an eloquent cadence that paired well with the light-hearted seriousness that came with the story that told of how this large group of Polish people outsmarted the Gestapo by using dozens of stray cats that roamed the streets of the city and ghetto during World War II. Reading this story with the rhythm created from the prose made the story rapidly intense at times, and decrepitly somber at others, making the book thrilling to read. I also loved this book for its creative character development. Even though the story spends little to no time drawing a picture of what the characters feel, understand and think, the way in which the author describes physical features and situations tells a lot about the characters in a short amount of time. For example, on the page that told of Arik telling the main character’s sister, Mira, that the Gestapo was onto their plan said “the look that passe[d] between Arik and Mira…frightens me more…than the knock on the door in the night” which showed me that Mira was in on the plan and afraid of what was going to happen now that the Gestapo knew of their plan. I thought that this was a subtly creative way of dealing aspects about Mira’s character without spending time explicitly explaining that she was involved with the life-threatening plan to secure food for the ghetto. Overall, the big idea of the book was to enlighten the reader on the dangerous times of World War II and to show what the people of that time had to do to obtain basic needs such as food and water.

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Summary: The young child is caught in World War II and is a Jewish child in Warsaw and has made friends with all the cats around who have lost their homes. Even though he has nothing to offer but tender love and affection the cats still love her. The child's older sister who is all the family she

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has left is having a friend smuggle in food to them on the train but the Gestapo finds out about the smuggling and send dogs to the train station to sniff out the smugglers. They gather all the cats in baskets and meet the friends at the train station. When the dogs are set loose they let the cats loose to distract the dogs so they can get the food.

Personal Reaction: This story shows how it really was for Jews during WWII and how hard it was for them to get what they needed. Things like what happened in this story really could have happened back then.

Classroom Extension Ideas: 1. Read a few articles about WWII to my class so they have a better understanding about the time and situation.
2. Have them draw the crazy scene from the story.

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The Cats In Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse is a picture book based on a real event that happened at the train station in Warsaw during WWII. Cats were used to distract the Gestapo's dogs.

Hesse's picture book, though, sets the stage for an otherwise short anecdote. Her protagonist is a girl living

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with her sister just outside the ghetto as they are blonde and can pass as Aryan Germans. They help smuggle food, when they can, in through the cracks of the hastily built wall defining the ghetto. They have also taken to caring for the cats left behind in the forced relocations of the Jews.

It is in caring for the cats and smuggling the food that they come up with an idea to thwart a plan by the gestapo to arrest the smugglers meeting a train at the station.

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A brief and easily read narrative about a girl who has escaped the Warsaw Ghetto. She and her sister are now part of the Jewish resistance. Demonstrated selflessness and an insistence on justice for all people. Historical note at end (nonfiction background). Will use in my classroom.

A young girl feeds the stray cats in the local square while wondering about her friend on the other side of the Ghetto wall. She, her older sister, and some others hatch a plan to safely bring food to the others.

Set during World War II in Poland, this book has the potential to be incredibly sad but

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it mainly stays on the hopeful side by focusing on the incredible and daring people who fought back against the Nazis using whatever means they could. In this case, it was by helping to feed Jewish people who were suffering as a result of Nazi occupation.

Of course, any story about this time period is ultimately sad, especially as an author's note explains how thousands of Polish Jews died as a result of Nazi actions. Still, it's an important story to know and this one is appropriate for relatively young children (probably elementary school-age would be fine).

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