One Day: A True Story of Survival in the Holocaust

Ages 7 to 10, Grades 2 to 5

From an eminent storyteller, this powerful, simply told, beautifully illustrated picture book recounts a rare story of survival during the Holocaust.

One day, a Hungarian-French Jew and his father were rounded up by Nazis and brought to a prison camp. One day, they tried to escape, and failed. One day, they tried to escape, and succeeded. In a true story that resonates with his own family legacy, Michael Rosen, one of today’s most esteemed poets and authors of books for children, draws on the real-life account of Eugène Handschuh, who escaped with his father from a convoy headed from Nazi-occupied Paris to Auschwitz. At once honest, approachable, and speaking to the resilience of hope, One Day features sensitive illustrations by award-winning artist Benjamin Phillips, as well as a note from the author providing historical context.

About the Author

Michael Rosen received the Eleanor Farjeon Award for services to children’s literature in 1997 and served as Children’s Laureate in the UK between 2007 and 2009. His books include the worldwide bestseller We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, the award-winning Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, illustrated by Quentin Blake, and The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II. The author has a personal connection to the story of One Day, as his family members were in the convoy that Eugène Handschuh traveled in, though not among the group who escaped. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Benjamin Phillips is an illustrator and artist with Jewish heritage who works in ceramics, drawings, and paintings. His artwork for the graphic novel Alte Zachen was short-listed for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration. Benjamin Phillips lives in England.