ONCE

ONCE is the story of children in the Holocaust, poignant and powerful without being frightening or graphic. With his gentle and utterly alive manner, Gleitzman reads the tale of Felix, a Jewish boy who runs away from the convent where his parents had him hidden and roams the countryside with an orphaned girl until they find their way to the cellar of a print shop in the Warsaw ghetto, where an old dentist has been protecting lost children. Gleitzman’s reading is precise and lovely, often delivered in an understated whisper, emphasizing the intensity of the story and the author’s skill as a consummate storyteller. Klezmer music punctuates the chapters. ONCE is very much a story about storytelling memory. Seldom does a story come along so powerful in its simplicity. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2006 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]