The hor­rors of the Holo­caust are dif­fi­cult for adults to deal with. Por­tray­ing a true ver­sion to chil­dren requires spe­cial care. The author and illus­tra­tor of One Day do this in an exem­plary fashion. 

This is the true sto­ry of Eugene Hand­schuh, a French resis­tance mem­ber cap­tured by the Nazis in occu­pied France. The book is both grit­ty and hon­est. Tough and hard hit­ting, the sto­ry of the arrest of the Hun­gar­i­an-French Jew­ish child and his father includes their cap­ture, the ardu­ous dig­ging of a secret tun­nel, and a dar­ing escape with the mot­to echo­ing through their dai­ly death-defy­ing lives: ​“Get through one day and then on to the next. One day at a time.” 

The dai­ly life they were cling­ing to was filled with phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al chal­lenges, which are brought vivid­ly to life by the author and illus­tra­tor. Char­coal and pen­cil illus­tra­tions stark­ly project the atmos­phere of life at the time with­out por­tray­ing the hor­rors on a lev­el unbear­able for children.

This would be an excel­lent intro­duc­tion to the Holo­caust for chil­dren less famil­iar with its his­to­ry, and it is a fine addi­tion to the genre.