For several months, I have been eagerly awaiting this book about my hero, Janusz Korczak; the colorful thumbnail picture and the projected release date were teasers all summer long. The book was released on schedule and I immediately bought a copy. Well, both the wait and the purchase have been most worthwhile.
So, another book on Korczak for children? I already have several fine volumes, including those of Spielman, Adler, and Bernheim, along with a rare imprint from Israel. First, with so little about this great man published in English, anything of quality is welcome. Second, Korczak was a true champion of children, so children's books about the Old Doctor are particularly welcome. Of the three picture books on Korczak currently available, this one is my favorite.
Janusz Korczak was the pen name of Henryk Goldzmit, a sensitive boy born in Warsaw in 1878. A loner and a dreamer, from the time he was about 11 he empathized with the children in the street, most of whom were much poorer than he. When his father died, the young Korczak had to take on tutoring jobs to support his family; even then, he offered lessons for free to pupils who could not afford the fee. He went on to study pediatric medicine, but gave up a lucrative practice to found an orphanage. He incorporated his ideas, all of which were based on the respect for the child, who he considered a person here an not, not a person of tomorrow. With the Nazi invasion of Poland in the Second World War, Korczak and his staff were forced to relocate to the infamous Warsaw Ghetto. On several occasions, he was offered false papers to escape to the Aryan side. However, he refused each time, continuing to provide comfort for the many orphans in the city. Several writers have discribed his somber procession of nearly 200 orphans to the trains that would take him and his charges to Treblinka, never to be seen again.
Books and plays on Korczak fall into two categories: telling his entire life or focusing on his role in caring for children in the Ghetto. This book falls into the former category, providing the reader with an important context for Korczak's heroic deeds without making him appear a victim. Tomek Bogacki, himself born in Poland, tells of Janusz Korczak's life with great sensitivity, without sentimentality; his beautiful acrylic illustrations complement the text effectively, especially in his use of bright colors to illustrate the happy moments and dark, somber colors for the sad parts of the story. The text may be a little difficult to read for younger readers, but the book is suitable for read-aloud even for little ones - even in the darkest moments, there is hope. Which is exactly how Janusz Korczak, champion of the children, wanted it.
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