Ruth Vander Zee

It is the winter of 1944. In Nazi-occupied Europe, a Jewish couple realize their fate is sealed and make a heart-rending decision so that their infant daughter might live. Ruth Vander Zee's elegant narration and Roberto Innocenti's searing and beautiful illustrations combine to capture the fear, love, and sadness of a Holocaust survivor's story.

After her mother is killed by an explosion that also destroys her Vietnam village, four-year-old Kim is alone and afraid. Eventually, she is rescued by soldiers who bring her to an orphanage.Surrounded by the love of the couple who run the orphanage, the companionship of the children who live there, and her mother's promise, -I will always be with you, - Kim finds the strength and courage to survive.This picture book for older readers, based on a true story from the Vietnam War, portrays the hope that exists in even the most desperate situations. Poignant illustrations capture the perseverance of the human spirit and the power of kindness.

A woman recalls how she was thrown from a train headed for a Nazi death camp in 1944, raised by someone who risked her own life to save the baby's, and finally found some peace through her own family.