Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature

The visualization of the horrific massacre scenes of the Holocaust is either difficult or impossible for someone to imagine. In Greece, only a few authors and illustrators of children's literature have engaged in dealing with the Holocaust. A remarkable exception is the picturebook Yellow Hats, written and illustrated by Kelly Matathia-Kovo. As a second-generation survivor, the writer and illustrator presents her own family story in a way that is accessible to children and to everyone who wants to learn about a true Holocaust story. The first word of the beginning of the book, remember, indicates that the story is based on true events, declaring that the writer is a member of the Jewish Society.

A glance at the cover of the book reminds one of nothing regarding the Holocaust, the Jews, or World War II. Only the yellow-drawn word Hats in the title and the word yellow itself can be associated with the yellow stars. The story describes the survival of a Jewish family from therio, the Greek word for beast, during WWII. Multiple meanings, various symbolisms, narration that emulates the illustrations, and a happy ending compose an appealing story, which enables the reader to think deeper and concentrate on the fear and despair of the dark ages of the Third Reich.

The heroes of this book are a Jewish family who, absurdly, are not portrayed as humans but as animals—sheep. Orwell's famous representation technique seems more powerful than ever in this children's picturebook, as it can offer latent symbolisms to the reader in an easy and direct way.

Mr. and Mrs. Be, with their seven sheep, used to live in harmony with the other animals on the green farm. Suddenly, there are rumors that wild beasts are looking for the sheep. An adventure is beginning for the sheep family as the rumors come true. The writer's skillfully used imagination makes the reader feel familiar with the story. The number seven she craftily presents was used in a famous Grimm's fairy tale, "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats." In general, illustrations seem to follow a cycle: from colorful at the beginning, when the family lives in harmony before the war, to black and gray tones when the Nazi danger is emerging, and back to colorful again at the end, highlighting their safety and security after the Allies win and the war is ended.

Even though recognizable Nazi symbols such as the swastika, the Nazi salute, or the Nazi insignia are totally missing from illustrations, the yellow [End Page 86] striped hats refer to yellow stars that all Jews were obliged to wear as a symbol of discrimination. On the visual level, perpetrators are unseen and covered carefully behind the dark sky, which makes the sheep feel and live in fear and anguish. In two spreads, though, the black sky and the gray-tone illustration compose a scene of fear and dread, with the airplanes flying threateningly in the sky, releasing their bombs. Nazis, called wild beasts, intended to imprison the sheep "in dark places." Obviously, the dark place is either the ghetto where the Nazis transferred the Jews or a concentration camp, as the illustration with the sheep behind a barbed-wire fence depicts.

In one spread, the circumstances under which the sheep are forced to live constantly are described as simply as possible. Sheep could neither go to their work anymore nor to school nor out in the range. They could not play with their friends, and they are obliged to wear yellow hats instead of the common yellow stars. These obligations are noticeably referred to in the Nuremberg Laws as constituting the beginning of the end of the Jews' freedom and as showing the increasing radicalization of policies toward the Jews, which culminated in massive murders.

While Jews are symbolized as sheep, the people who risked their lives to protect and save them from Nazi persecution are symbolized as the rabbit, the cockerel, and the mouse. It is this remarkable choice of...