Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Zosia Dzierzawska. PICTURE BOOK/NON-FICTION. Candlewick Press, 2019. $17. 9780763689155
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
In Biatystock, the people of the town spoke a variety of languages and because they couldn’t understand each other, often had arguments. Young Leyzer has an idea and starts to create a language that combines all the languages of his town. After medical school, he starts to share the language with a larger audience and it takes on some momentum.
I had never really considered the idea of a global language, so I found the idea behind this story and Leyzer’s life fascinating. That said, I thought the execution here was a little bit messy. It was never very clear exactly where he lived and why there were so many languages and why the new language didn’t take off to a greater degree.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
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