Alte Zachen / Old Things

About the Author\nZiggy Hanaor is a publisher and writer. She is the author of Alex and Alex, Fly Flies and the Pocket Chaotic. This is her first graphic novel.\nBenjamin Phillips works in various mediums, straddling the disciplines of illustration and fine art. From his studio in Hastings, Benjamin finds inspiration in human interaction, the humour and turmoil of everyday life and the joy of repetition. His clients include New York Times, Penguin Random House, Ebury Press and the British Council.\nA beautifully illustrated and presented intergenerational graphic novel that follows 11-year-old Benji and his elderly grandmother, Bubbe Rosa, as they traverse Brooklyn and Manhattan, gathering the ingredients for a Friday night dinner.
Praise for Alte Zachen
''The graphic novel format brilliantly allows us to see Bubbe in both her present and her past, allowing the reader to better understand her in all her cranky, opinionated grandeur, along with her sweet, caring grandson, Benji. A wonderful intergenerational story about the value of old things.” -- Marissa Moss, Children's Book Author & Illustrator
"Phillips’s delicate colors and fine details illustrate the richness of city life. Two sisters arguing on a train, a couple dancing together, and immigrants’ first view of the Statue of Liberty — these are all images that Bubbe conjures while looking back over the years. In one full-color scene that integrates past and present, she comes to terms with the inevitability of change. As the book ends, with grandmother and grandson against a New York City skyline, newness does not seem so threatening, after all". -- Jewish Book Council
''To outsiders, Benji’s Bubbe is just a crabby old lady. To the boy, and eventually to us, she becomes a vulnerable figure deserving of great tenderness. “Alte Zachen” is less ambitious and searing than Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” but like that graphic novel it expands our understanding of the gulf that can exist between generations, particularly those divided by catastrophe''. -- Wall Street Journal
''Softly lined watercolor art portrays a moving narrative…even as Benjy and Bubbe’s worldviews clash, the Yiddish-peppered telling renders a familial bond that is at once mercurial and unshakable.'' -- Publisher's Weekly Starred Review
''This is one book I’m definitely looking forward to once it comes out!'' -- School Library Journal/Fuse 8
''Compelling and evocative, Alte Zachen is an eloquent intergenerational story that will resonate with and enlighten readers of all ages''. -- Celebrate Picture Books
''For a first graphic novel, Alte Zachen is a true success. This is award-winning storytelling''. -- Books for Keeps
''Every so often a book appears and you just know what an impact it's going to have. Alte Zachen by #ZiggyHanaor and @benjamindraws is one of those books''. -- Children Reading for Pleasure
''A tour de force. On behalf of all the #Bubbes and #Benjis thank you @cicadabooks for such a joyful and redemptive picture book''. -- Youth Libraries Group\n''Exploring themes of migration, alienation, loss, perception and identity, this is both an important book and a window into our children’s futures and our parents’ pasts''. -- School Reading List\nBubbe’s relationship with the city is complex – nothing is quite as she remembered it and she feels alienated and angry at the world around her. Benji, on the other hand, looks at the world, and his grandmother, with clear-eyed acceptance. As they wander the city, we catch glimpses of Bubbe’s childhood in Germany, her young adulthood in 1950s Brooklyn, and her relationships; first with a baker called Gershon, and later with successful Joe, Benji’s grandfather. Gradually we piece together snippets of Bubbe’s life, gaining an insight to some of the things that have formed her cantankerous personality. The journey culminates on the Lower East Side in a moving reunion between Rosa and Gershon, her first love. As the sun sets, Benji and his Bubbe w