The Grand Mosque of Paris

The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Saved Jews During the Holocaust. Karen Gray Ruelle. Illustrated by Deborah Durland DeSaix. 2009. Holiday House. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: In 1940 war came to Paris, and life was turned upside down.

Premise/plot: Quite simply this is a picture book for older readers. Dare I say it's even a picture book primarily for adults?! This picture book is definitely text-heavy, and the subject is a heavy one. The book brings to light something you may not know: the North African Muslims of Paris rescued a lot of Jews during World War II. (Others were part of the French Resistance.)

This is not a well-documented, well-known part of history. Rescuing Jews (hiding Jews, creating new identity papers, forging documents, smuggling them out of France) was deadly dangerous. So it makes sense that it was not well-documented, that they did not leave a paper trail to show how many hundreds or thousands they rescued during the war. This is a story of what we do know--a handful of cases, examples, of men, women, and children rescued by Muslims.

My thoughts: This one is packed with information, most of it all new-to-me. Because I am interested in the subject, I found it fascinating. It isn't a storytelling narrative. The text doesn't thrill you with its beauty. But it is dense with information that you probably can't find elsewhere. I can guess why they went with a picture book format. The illustrations are LOVELY and truly complement the text.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews