Let the Celebrations Begin!: A Story of Hope for the Liberation

By Margaret Wild

Book Overview

Amid rumors of liberation, inmates at Germany's Belsen camp create toys for a celebration in a moving story of hope, based on a true account. Miriam lives in hut 18, bed 22. She has little to eat and nothing to play with, but she can remember what it was like before, when she had her own food, her own bed, and her very own toys. As World War II nears an end, everyone says the soldiers are coming, so Miriam joins the women in planning a celebration. Every night, while the guards sleep, they busy themselves crafting toys out of scraps of their clothing to surprise the younger children. Based on a reference to a small collection of stuffed toys made by women in Belsen for the first party held after the liberation of the camp, this new edition of Let the Celebrations Begin , originally published in 1996, is an affecting story of human survival.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763670138
• ISBN13: 9780763670139
• Release Date: September 2014
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.0" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

abook to touch your heart

I had been putting together a collection of books for young readers on Holocaust themes for a school library when I found this book. It is so heartbreakingly brave, beautiful, and uplifting! The illustrations have a charming dignity. The fact of the camp existance is brought out gently, yet compellingly. Most of all, the book is a testimony of the triumph of the human heart. I highly recommend it to persons introducing the facts of that historical period to very young readers.

An amazing, powerful book about the Holocaust

I have used this book to teach my second and third grade students about the Holocaust. The story and the pictures bring to life the horror of the Holocaust and temper it with the hope for the future. The book has become one of my favorites. I strongly encourage anyone who teaches about the Holocaust to include this book in their collection.