"In the spirit of Allen Say's Grandfather's Journey and Patricia Polacco's THE KEEPING QUILT, SILENT AS STONE conveys the hope and heartbreak of life in a bite-size form that children can manage. Stunningly illustrated and tenderly told, Silent as a Stone tells the story of three unforgettable lives and the countless lives they touched. Mother Maria, Yuri, and Fr Dimitri serve as examples to us all-and especially to our children-who must find the path of love through our broken world." -Jenny Schroedel, author of The Blackbird's Nest: Saint Kevin of Ireland and The Everything Saints Book

"SILENT AS STONE is an incredible resource for the Orthodox Christian community to learn about the heroic and courageous deeds of Mother Maria. Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press should be commended for bringing this story to light and honoring Mother Maria with such a beautifully illustrated and inspiring book." -Rachel Kamin, Director, Temple Israel Libraries & Media Center

"Mother Maria is a saint of our day and for our day; a woman of flesh and blood possessed by the love of God, who stood face to face with the problems of this century." +Metropolitan Anthony Bloom ( )

The story of Mother Maria Skobtsov’s heroism is told with simple eloquence and beautiful illustrations. A nun in the Orthodox Church, Mother Maria constantly prays for strength and guidance as she tries to help those in need in World War II Paris. When the Jews are rounded up and confined to a bicycle-racing stadium, Mother Maria figures out a way to save many of the children by enlisting the trash collectors to hide them in garbage cans and smuggle them out. Through a historical note at the end of the book, the reader learns that Mother Maria was eventually deported and killed at Ravensbruck concentration camp. She is included among the Righteous Gentiles at Yad Vashem, and she was made a saint by the Orthodox Church.

While this book is published by the Orthodox Church and filled with Christian prayers and references, it is an important book for Jewish readers. This righteous Gentile worked selflessly for all people and sacrificed her own life because of her work and her beliefs. The muted drawings with expressive faces, particularly the double spread of the stadium scene, truly illuminate the text. The historical note at the end is excellent and useful in that the reader can learn about this heroic woman’s life before and after the incidents in the book. The details of her and her associate’s (including her son) demise are noted here, so that the “Trash Can Rescue” remains a story of hope and an example of how one person can make a difference. Some libraries may hesitate to include this because of the Christian content, but it is highly recommended for all libraries that collect Holocaust materials. It can also spur discussion about the responsibilities of a Jew to his co-religionists and to the world. ( )