<p>"<em>Alte Zachen</em> wonderfully encapsulates the grandparent-grandchild relationship in true yiddishkeit. Bubbe isn't the doting, baking, spoiling grandma you might expect. She's cranky and opinionated and wonderfully interesting. Benji, her grandson, is the patient, loving one. As someone who deeply misses her own bubbe – and that whole generation – these pages allowed me a brief visit with someone very much like them once again.” <em><strong>-- Marissa Moss, Children's Book Author and Illustrator</strong></em></p>
<p>''Alte Zachen (Old Things) follows Benji and his Bubbe Rosa as they navigate New York City and its changing streets, their generational divide, and Bubbe’s memories of Jewish identity, community and history. A powerful and affecting story from author and publisher Ziggy Hanaor, with atmospheric illustrations from Benjamin Phillips – notably, Benjamin illustrates the modern-day scenes in greyscale, while Bubbe’s memories are brought to life in full colour''. -<em><strong>- Centre for Literacy in Primary Education</strong></em></p>
<p>''Established in 2009, Cicada Books set out to publish and celebrate beautiful books and new talent. In Alte Zachen (Yiddish for Old Things), founder and publisher, Ziggy Hanaor, takes the leap from penning picture books to writing graphic novels with Benjamin Phillips providing the poetic charcoal, pen and watercolour illustrations. This intergenerational story follows Benji and his grandmother, Rosa, as they journey through modern-day Brooklyn and Manhattan to collect ingredients for dinner. It becomes a multilayered, journey that juxtaposes the new with the old and sees Benji gently and lovingly guide his Bubbe as she reveals her memories of growing up and falling in love.</p>
<p>As we begin our own journey into the story, we encounter the Yiddish proverb: ‘A person’s heart is like a sausage, no one knows exactly what’s inside’. It is a touching precursor to our encounter with the rather cantankerous Bubbe Rosa who may seem sharp-tongued and acerbic to her grandson and fellow Americans but whose memories show her to be brimming with love and kindness.</p>
<p>In a beautiful twist on form, illustrator Phillips flips the colour codes of time through pictures for Bubbe setting her modern-day landscape in sepias and greys and revealing her past time to be full of colour and life: this is a time that she prefers and pines for. Even the size of the panels, expanding into full-page bleeds, outgrow and tower over the narrowly-framed images set in the current time period.</p>
<p>For a first graphic novel, Alte Zachen is a true success. As Bubbe and Benji head home over the Williamsburg Bridge for their dinner, you realise that both author and illustrator have gifted us with a story rich in evocative memories in which older generations and new begin to understand one another. And Bubbe, whose personality, no matter how sharp and dated, is difficult to not love once you see what’s inside her heart. This is award-winning storytelling''. <br /><em><strong>-- Books for Keeps</strong></em></p>
<p>''This is a very powerful and moving graphic novel. As grandmother and grandson walk through the city, the reader catches glimpses of Bubbe Rosa’s youth. Presented in colour, these flashbacks are triggered by sights and sounds from the present, giving the reader an insight into events that have shaped her life and personality. A group of children they pass spark her memories of school and callously being sent home with the other Jewish children, a tattooed stranger brings a vision of many arms bearing tattooed numbers and a dirty train, the memory of travelling on the red velvet seats with her mother and sister. Although puzzled by her reactions, her grandson supports and guides her.</p>
<p>‘Alte Zachen’ would be perfect for sharing with children in KS3 as a starting point for many discussions, including intergenerational relationships and displacement. The story is scattered with Yiddish terms and there is a useful glossary explaining these at the end of the book''. <em><strong>-- Through the Bookshelf</strong></em></p>
<p>''T S Eliot was one of millions all over the world who acknowledged Walter de la Mere as a more important and profound poet than perhaps the literary establishment were willing to allow. He wrote of his ‘deceptive cadences’ and ‘the delicate invisible web’ he wove.</p>
<p>I mention this because at the exact moment I opened this extraordinary graphic story, the voice of de la Mere himself emerged from the radio, reading, singing almost, The Song of the Shadows, which contains these lines:</p>
<p>Ghosts linger in the darkening air,<br />Hearken at the open door.</p>
<p>They sum up the atmosphere and emotions of every page of Alte Zachen.</p>
<p>Ziggy Hanaor and Benjamin Phillips have produced a witty, moving and illuminating story which has much to say about the big events of the last hundred years, about how different generations can absorb lessons from each other’s viewpoints and about how life can still deliver a bloom, no matter how arid the soil in which it is planted may appear to be.</p>
<p>We highly recommend Alte Zachen: Old Things for upper KS2 and KS3 school libraries, classroom graphic novel collections, and for use in PSHE lessons when discussing how to relate empathetically to different generations, how to understand other people’s life experiences and how to consider different perspectives and points of view''. <em><strong>-- School Reading List</strong></em></p>
<p>"Alte Zachen is a very special graphic novel with a strong and tender narrative from @cicadabooks" <em><strong>-- Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine</strong></em></p>
<p>''Every so often a book appears and you just know what an impact it's going to have. Alte Zachen by #ZiggyHanaor and @benjamindraws is one of those books. Beyond important. Beyond special. Just necessary. Have read it three times in less than a day and its power hasn't lessened''. <em><strong>-- Children Reading for Pleasure</strong></em></p>
<p><em>''</em>#AlteZachen is a tour de force. The spiky, yet warm, relationship between Benji and his Bubbe Rosa is perfectly executed and has so much to say about tolerance and acceptance. And the Brooklyn landscape comes alive.</p>
<p>''On behalf of all the #Bubbes and #Benjis thank you @cicadabooks for such a joyful and redemptive picture book. #AlteZachen is warm, thought-provoking and empathetic. #oldthingsneverdie.''<em><strong><br />-- Youth Libraries Group<br /><br /></strong></em>''This remarkable and absorbing graphic novel takes the reader on a journey across New York with Bubbe Rosa and her 11-year-old grandson, Benji. Flashbacks, triggered by sights and sounds along the way, give us powerful glimpses into Bubbe’s past, and how key moments in her life have shaped her character. Alte Zachen would be an excellent choice to read and discuss with children in years 6-8, as compelling text with a touching ending, as an inspiration for pupils’ artwork, and as a story to inspire PSHCE discussion. Exploring themes of migration, alienation, loss, perception and identity, this is both an important book and a window into our children’s futures and our parents’ pasts''. <em><strong>-- School Reading List</strong></em></p>
<p>''Firstly, I must thank Cicada Books who kindly sent me a copy of Alte Zachen - their first graphic novel. In my eyes, it is a resounding success: I've read it a few times already and feel like I delve deeper into the story a little more each time.<br /><br />A lovely feature of the book are the flashbacks that Bubbe has: giving the reader an insight into why she may have these views. I also loved the Yiddish vocabulary that is scattered across the story, making us really believe the conversations and empathise with the characters.</p>
<p>I have really enjoyed this graphic novel and will read it to my Year 6s in a couple of weeks. It will allow us to revisit some of our knowledge about WW2, immigration and Jewish culture all of which we have touched upon this year. The children will, no doubt, have different interpretations and reflections to those that I have had and I will enjoy hearing their ideas too.</p>
<p>You can grab a copy from Cicada who have a wealth of picture books, non-fiction and fiction. The quality is always fabulous!'' <br /><em><strong>-- The Value's Bookshelf</strong></em></p>
