This collaboration between author and artist is a happy one: distinguished American illustrator Ted Lewin's paintings lend depth and dignity to Oberman's story. In the first half, the illustrations are realistic black-and-white water-colours. They switch to colour when Adam grows up. The transition is disconcerting, since it happens on the second page of a double-page spread, but that is not a bad thing in itself. The book is beautifully designed, with spacious double-page spreads, elegant typography, and apropos end papers. The design lends Adam's black-and-white family photos an immediacy that is in keeping with the book's theme.
Students in grades 3 or 4 and older will appreciate reading this versatile book. Pair it with Russell Freedman's Immigrant Kids fascinating look at European immigrant children in America, or with the charming Something from Nothing, Phoebe Gilman's Jewish folktale about a prized piece of clothing cut down until nothing is left but a story. Jewish readers will recognize the particulars of The Always Prayer Shawl but the experiences it describes are universal