The Key from Spain : Flory Jagoda and Her Music - ADVISABLE

The Key from Spain : Flory Jagoda and Her Music by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Sonja Wimmer PICTURE BOOK Kar-Ben Publishing Lerner Imprints, 2019 $18. 9781541522183

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
When Flora's ancestors fled Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in 1492, they took 2 things with them, a key and their Ladino language. By the 1930s, her family was living in Europe, a dangerous place and time for Jewish people, so the family moved again. Flora traveled alone on a train to their next home , but in order to keep her identity a secret, she spent the whole trip playing music on her harmoniku while everyone on the train sang along. Her ancestors carried a key and their language, and she did, too; preserving the Ladino language through songs in America.

Sonja Wimmer's full color illustrations are beautiful, the perfect addition to the well written text. Picture book biographies are my favorite thing right now - I love learning about people who are completely new to me. Flory Jagoda is one of them, and now she's a hero! My goodness, so talented, and what a heartbreaking story. Be sure to scan the QR code key on the last page to hear her sing her famous Hanukkah song "Ocho Kandelikas"

Lisa Librarian