Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story

“Mixed-media images by Bates (The Big Umbrella), washed in yellows and browns and framed by woodblock motifs, give readers a vivid sense of the historical context while infusing the story with a timeless emotional immediacy. Newman (Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed) skillfully modulates her narration, capturing her protagonist’s feelings of excitement, loneliness, and fear. The ending, handled with both restraint and warmth, relies on one of those improbable twists of good fortune that define so many immigrant stories—and it’s based on a real event.” -- Publishers Weekly
“Lesléa Newman has drawn from two stories told in her family for the beautiful picture book “Gittel’s Journey”, a moving account of a young Jewish girl’s voyage from czarist Russia to America… In Amy June Bates’s superb illustrations, framed by woodcut-style borders, we see the child, so small in the world of adults, her red scarf bright amid the muted hues of the late 19th century.” -- Wall Street Journal
“A book about immigration, as seen through the eyes of a child who makes the journey to America alone and must find her way in a strange new world.” -- The New York Post