Passage to Freedom

Review
By Into the Wardrobe

This picture book for ages six and up is a different, interesting, engrossing, and powerful way for children to learn about the Holocaust. I doubt there are many other (if there are any at all) Holocaust stories told through the point of view of a Japanese boy witnessing great compassion and courage! I also think it is a perfect story of parents who practice what they preach. Hiroki’s parents always told him to think about other people before he thought about himself. The Sugihara family did just that when they risked their safety to help Jews escape the Nazis. If you are wondering, yes, I was choking up while reading Passage to Freedom. Dom Lee’s illustrations for Passage to Freedom were unbelievable. When I found out that he created the illustrations by etching on beeswax applied to paper and then painting on the etchings, my jaw literally dropped. What amazing skills! The illustrations are so realistic that they look like sepia-toned photographs from the 1940s.— Into the Wardrobe