Oskar and the Eight Blessings - Hardcover

by Tanya Simon (Author), Richard Simon (Author), Mark Siegel (Illustrator)

Winner of the 2015 National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature

A young immigrant from Nazi Germany recieves small acts of kindness while exploring New York City in this heartwarming, timeless picture book, Oskar and the Eight Blessings.

A refugee seeking sanctuary from the horrors of Kristallnacht, Oskar arrives by ship in New York City with only a photograph and an address for an aunt he has never met. It is both the seventh day of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, 1938. As Oskar walks the length of Manhattan, from the Battery to his new home in the north of the city, he passes experiences the city's many holiday sights, and encounters it various residents. Each offers Oskar a small act of kindness, welcoming him to the city and helping him on his way to a new life in the new world.

Richard and Tanya Simon's text matched with Mark Siegel's elegant illustrations makes for a wonderfully heartfelt read.

Author Biography

Richard Simon and Tanya Simon are a husband-and-wife writing team. Richard is chair of the language department at an independent school and is co-author of a successful off-Broadway play. Tanya is co-author of the children's novel Zora and Me, winner of a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. They live in Westchester, New York. Oskar and the Eight Blessings is their first picture book.

Mark Siegel has illustrated a number of picture books, including the Texas Bluebonnet winner Seadogs with Lisa Wheeler and the Siebert Honor book To Dance, with his wife, Siena Cherson Siegel. He wrote and illustrated the New York Times bestselling graphic novel Sailor Twain, Or the Mermaid in the Hudson. He lives in New York with his family.