- heartwarming story of 3 children showing courage, creativity and kindness in an unfair situation
- subtle messages within the illustrations (i.e. the Russian-Jewish man has a tattoo of numbers on his arm)
- encourages entrepreneurial thinking as as a means to care for others
- not theologically perfect*
- based on a true childhood story of the author’s
Type: picture book
Ages: 6-9
Author/Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
*Regarding theology, there is just a small line where the grandmother tells the children they are “good people” (see Romans 3:10-11) and one other point where the grandmother is singing in church “just for us [the kids]” when, really, she should be worshiping and singing for the Lord only. These are both minor parts of the story, but I do suggest to parents to always be talking with children about what Scripture says about everything we do! We can still deeply appreciate reading of the author’s childhood memory.
Relatedly, there is one more point that someone might call a theological issue, but I personally read it with humor. The grandmother loved Chicken Sundays so much, she wanted some of the food poured on her grave so she can reach up and have a late night snack (then she laughed).
I really liked this book. I like the cross-cultural friendships, the cross-generational friendships and the beautiful behavior shown by the three children. Great read!