''To outsiders, Benji’s Bubbe is just a crabby old lady. To the boy, and eventually to us, she becomes a vulnerable figure deserving of great tenderness. “Alte Zachen” is less ambitious and searing than Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” but like that graphic novel it expands our understanding of the gulf that can exist between generations, particularly those divided by catastrophe." - Wall Street Journal
''Softly lined watercolor art portrays a moving narrative… even as BenjI and Bubbe’s worldviews clash, the Yiddish-peppered telling renders a familial bond that is at once mercurial and unshakable." - Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"Taking a walk with Rosa and Benji just might change how readers see the world and everyone’s place in it. Highly recommended for graphic novel collections." - School Library Journal Starred Review *Best Children's Books of 2022 selection*
"The graphic novel format brilliantly allows us to see Bubbe in both her present and her past, allowing the reader to better understand her in all her cranky, opinionated grandeur, along with her sweet, caring grandson, Benji. A wonderful intergenerational story about the value of old things." - Marissa Moss, Children's Book Author & Illustrator
"Phillips’s delicate colors and fine details illustrate the richness of city life. Two sisters arguing on a train, a couple dancing together, and immigrants’ first view of the Statue of Liberty — these are all images that Bubbe conjures while looking back over the years. In one full-color scene that integrates past and present, she comes to terms with the inevitability of change. As the book ends, with grandmother and grandson against a New York City skyline, newness does not seem so threatening, after all." - Jewish Book Council
''Compelling and evocative, Alte Zachen is an eloquent intergenerational story that will resonate with and enlighten readers of all ages." - Celebrate Picture Books
''A tour de force. On behalf of all the #Bubbes and #Benjis thank you @cicadabooks for such a joyful and redemptive picture book.'' - Youth Libraries Group, UK
''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." - School Reading List, UK
''For a first graphic novel, Alte Zachen is a true success. This is award-winning storytelling.'' - Books for Keeps, UK
