Booklist STARRED Review (The Burning of the Books)

Although this remarkable picture book is specifically about the Nazi book burnings of 1933, its context is much broader. Winter begins the story with the invention of the printing press in Germany and continues with the development of German libraries and scholarship. He follows German students, librarians, and others as they remove books, stack them, and finally set them on fire. He specifies that many of the burned and banned books were by Jewish authors, but that others were by Americans and Germans as well. He tells how banned authors were often forced to flee. These events become strikingly relevant to today's readers as the book states, "What happened to these authors, / what happened to their books, / made its way into another book, / which you now hold in your hands." However, the conclusion finishes with the stark warning that "what happened in Germany / could happen anywhere. / It could even happen in America." Kelley's darkly stylized illustrations evoke the modern art of the time period—also banned by the Nazis. Like the text, the illustrations perfectly balance period specificity with a universal message. Although this is a picture book, its historical context and sophisticated message make it most appropriate for older elementary readers rather than young children.

The Burning of the Books by Jonah Winter and Gary Kelley