PASSAGE TO FREEDOM

Books, particularly children's books, often transport readers to lands unknown or not yet explored. Books can be Aladdin's magic carpet or Emily Dickinson's frigate that takes us lands away. Picture books, with their evocative illustrations, amplify the adventures; better still, the picture book experience enhanced by audio interpretation. With PASSAGE TO FREEDOM, listeners will journey to Lithuania in 1940, where 5-year-old Hiroki Sugihara is witness to the decision of his father, the Japanese consul, to free desperate Polish Jewish refugees by writing them visas, despite his government's refusal. Children will respond to the judicious use of evocative music to punctuate a forthright narrative and will appreciate the extraordinary measure of heroism in the father and the generous spirit of his son. T.B. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 00]