The Sky Was My Blanket
In 1930, at the age of fifteen and a half, Yehiel Szulewicz leaves home in search of adventure and a life other than the one destined for him by his religious Jewish parents in Poland. Yehiel has no money and no ID papers, yet he thinks of traveling to the Holy Land. He makes his way through Europe from one Jewish community to the next, doing odd jobs to earn a meal, a bed, or some money, surviving through his quick wits and good luck. Sometimes he sleeps in the wild, with the sky as his blanket. In Vienna, Yehiel is apprenticed to a leathersmith, but in 1933, his adventures turn dangerous. Forced to leave Austria, he flees to Spain and becomes a member of the Republican Army fighting Franco’s fascist forces. After Franco’s victory, Yehiel flees to Vichy France, where he joins the Jewish Resistance and fights the Nazis. Yehiel fills his life with adventure, but he never reconciles with his parents. He never sees them again.
Posthumously published, The Sky Was My Blanket tells the story of Caldecott Medal winner Uri Shulevitz’s own uncle’s story—a man who “…was to me like a second father, a role model, and an inspiration.” It is brutal yet beautiful. Fast paced, this is a quick but not an easy read. Shulevitz’s black-and-white illustrations are as stark and as impossible to ignore as the story itself. An extensive afterword informs the reader of Shulevitz’s reasons for telling his uncle’s story. The publisher’s age range is 10-14, though any adult will appreciate it. Some knowledge of WWII and the Holocaust will deepen the reading experience. Highly recommended.
