Historical Fiction (Caldecott) (Cultural Diversity)

What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street
Author- Elsa Okon Rael
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996
Historical Fiction (multicultural)
Grades 4-6

This is about an Immigrant family who attends a "package party" for a Zborovah Society. This was a society that raised money to get more people from Zborov (a town in Poland) to America. They raise money by cooking food (and packaging it) and auctioning it off at the party. It is Zeesie, the young girl's, birthday and she receives a dollar from her grandfather. At the party their is a "money room" where people enter and anonymously take or give money. It is seen as a good deed for someone to take when they need money and to give when they can. Zeesie sneaks into the money room and gives her dollar after she mistakenly witnesses a family friend take money. Even though she is sorry that she witnessed this personal event, she feels satisfied that she gave her birthday money to the cause.

This is historical fiction because the author is writing about her memories of New York City's lower east side tenements that were haven to thousands of immigrants. She remembered living in this area when she was a child in the 1930s and used her experiences to create this story about Zeesie and the Zborov party. This book is multicultural because it describes another culture and a few of their traditions. It has a glossary in the back of the book that defines certain cultural words used. I would definitely integrate this book with a history lesson on immigrants (especially Polish immigrants).