Benno and the Night of Broken Glass

Gr 1–4—Benno the cat enjoys visiting all the families and businesses on the Berlin street where he lives. He watches the Adler family light their Sabbath candles on Friday nights, he joins the Schmidt family for lunch on Saturdays, he accepts scraps of meat from Moshe the butcher, and he spends sunny afternoons napping in the front window of Mrs. Stein's dress shop. Benno's life follows this predictable pattern until the night when the men in brown shirts and heavy black boots swarm his street. They smash windows, burn books, and drag some families from their apartments. In a straightforward manner, Meg Wiviott, the author of the picture book (Lerner, 2010) that is the basis of this adaptation, recounts the events of Kristallnacht from Benno's point of view. This gentle perspective makes the subject matter more approachable for discussion with young audiences. The narration is enhanced by the inclusion of appropriate sound effects, including breaking glass and smashed pottery. The mixed-media images are a beautiful blend of paint colors, collage, and fabric, and they contribute to the feel of a diverse neighborhood of Jewish and Christian families and shops. A supplemental two-minute segment provides background information about the beginning of the Holocaust.