Caren Stelson
Caren Stelson is the author of Sachiko: A Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Story and other works for children and young adults. To write Sachiko, Caren traveled to Nagasaki five times to interview Sachiko Yasui and research her story. Caren has had a long career in education, as a teacher, writer-in-residence, and freelance writer. After receiving her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University in 2009, Caren decided it was time to write the stories that needed her attention. Caren and her husband Kim have two grown children. They split their time between home in Minneapolis and the small town of Lanesboro.
Read her interview with Roger Sutton of The Horn Book.
Book View Now host Rich Fahle talks with Caren Stelson at the Miami Book Fair.
Reviews
Stars of the Night
Named A Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Literacy Association
“In a collective voice that represents the 669 Czech children rescued from the Nazis by a businessman whose identity remained unknown for 50 years, Stelson describes rising tides of anti-Semitism, tearful partings, scary journeys by train and boat, meetings with British foster families, and then a return to Prague at war’s end to search out the scanty remnants of families and, long after, to learn who had organized the escape. Five young figures, identified by the colors of their clothes, appear in each of Alko’s grave, gray scenes and correspond to actual refugees who are named and profiled in back matter that also includes a time line and personal notes from the author and illustrator, and leads to further information about the broader Kindertransport movement. Refugee stories won’t be unfamiliar even to younger children these days—but this one might be, especially as most other accounts of this lesser-known piece of history are aimed at older readers.”—Booklist
“A necessary and inspirational book about a little-known light amid a dark period of history, this book should find a home in all libraries.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review
“In this quiet but immediate nonfiction picture book, Stelson (A Bowl Full of Peace, rev. 7/20) tells the story of the 669 children evacuated via the Kindertransport, with the help of Nicholas Winton, from Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s to escape the Nazis. The first-person-plural narration mainly sticks to the collective point of view of the children, letting readers experience their bewilderment first at the early signs of war and persecution and then at the unexplained “holiday to England” without their parents; occasional “none of us knew” asides hint at the help Winton was providing behind the scenes. As time passes and the war ends, readers find out along with the narrators that most of their parents have perished during the Holocaust, and finally learn Winton’s identity. The in-the-moment text combines with emotional acrylic, colored-pencil, and collage illustrations in Alko’s (I Is for Immigrants, rev. 9/21) signature style to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Extensive back matter provides further context; a note explains that five of the children in the illustrations represent specific individuals among “Winton’s children,” and a quote from the mother of one of them, Vera Gissing, inspires the titular star motif. Pair with Sís’s Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued”—The Horn Book, Starred Review
“Stelson (A Bowl Full of Peace) employs a communal we to narrate this story of 669 primarily Jewish children of the Czech Kindertransport rescued by British humanitarian Nicholas Winton (1909– 2015). The 1938 Prague–set opening evokes sensory memories of comfortable childhoods: a picnic, sweet honey cake, ice-skating, hot cocoa. But as refugees arrive and Nazi forces approach, parents start making "arrangements" with an unnamed man. Soon, the children are told that they’re "taking a holiday to England," with heartrending goodbyes preceding the children’s travels to English foster homes. Five decades later, a scrapbook is unearthed, revealing Winton as the man whose planning saved not only them, but also "our children, our grandchildren, and all their children to come." Impressionistic acrylic, collage, and pencil art by Alko (I Is for Immigrants) is embellished throughout with sparkling stars and round yellow orbs—reminders of "the stars of the night and the sun of the day" that, the children’s parents’ say, are "the messenger of our thoughts and love," as well as, perhaps, of Winton’s indomitable spirit. An afterword provides extensive historical detail.”—Publishers Weekly
“An unlikely hero saved the lives of hundreds of children during the Holocaust. Stelson describes how Jewish Czech children were saved via the Kindertransport during World War II. Beginning in 1938, they were taken via train from their hometown, Prague, to England, where they lived with foster families for several years while war raged in continental Europe. After the war, they returned home to learn most of their parents had perished. Many years later, they also discovered, for the first time, the identity of the self-effacing man who had literally set the wheels in motion by organizing the transports and securing necessary documents, allowing them—a total of 669 children—to leave their war-ravaged country and Nazi brutality behind so that they might live. His name? Nicholas “Nicky” Winton, an Englishman working in Prague in the late ’30s and one of many whose contributions made the Kindertransport possible. Decades later, he was honored by the Czech president and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to humanity. This searing account is all the more heart-rending because it is collectively narrated by the young people saved by Winton, delivered in the innocent, matter-of-fact voice of a child. The illustrations, rendered in acrylic, colored pencil, and collage, are powerfully poignant and have childlike appeal, capturing readers’ sympathetic attention. A backmatter feature, “Winton’s Children,” notes that five depicted children represent actual young people saved by Winton, who is himself portrayed. A not-to-be-missed, inspirational book about courage, heart, and the necessity of caring for others. (timeline, more information about the Kindertransport, information on the Yad Vashem’s Children’s Memorial, photos, author’s note, illustrator’s note, source notes, bibliography, further reading)”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
A Bowl Full of Peace
"The . . . calm, direct tone and the hopeful ending make this difficult, sophisticated material manageable for older elementary-school and middle-school children."—The Horn Book, Starred Review
"A heartbreaking but essential perspective on war and survival."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"A powerful entry point for discussing the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the importance of peace and disarmament. Stunning."—Booklist, Starred Review
Sachiko
"Luminous, enduring, utterly necessary."—Booklist, Starred Review
"An essential addition to World War II biography collections for middle school students."—School Library Journal, Starred Review
A 2017 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for books for older children
A 2017 Minnesota Book Award finalist, Middle-Grade Literature
A 2016 Booklist Editors’ Choice
A 2016 Orbis Pictus Recommended book
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature
A selection of the Junior Literary Guild