Review: Bessie's Pillow {Strong Learning, Inc.}

My boys have developed a great love of reading and enjoy many different genres of books. For the last few weeks, we have been captivated by this truly amazing book, Bessie’s Pillow, published by Strong Learning, Inc. It is a historical fiction which is based on the true story of Bessie Markman Dreizen.

Bessie’s Pillow is written by Bessie’s granddaughter, Linda Press Silbert, the owner of Strong Learning, Inc. This book starts in 1906 and is about Bessie’s journey from Lithuania to America and beyond and includes personal photos of Bessie and her family.

At the age of 18, Boshka Markman, one of many thousands of Jewish immigrants who, with the help of her parents, is forced to leaving her home to escape persecution and venture to a new country, America, which she eventually makes her home. At the train station, just before boarding the train to leave on this new adventure, she encounters a woman who asks her to take an embroidered pillow to her son who is already living in America. The inscription on this pillow reads: ‘May this pillow bring you peace.’

At the port of entry, Boshka’s name is changed to Bessie and she gives a full account of what she sees on her arrival in this new land. The book then goes on to retell the struggles, and joys that this lady encounters while trying to make her way in this strange land, all of which shape her into a strong, independent, yet compassionate and loving woman.

Written in the first person, you are able to get a great look at the world in the years 1906 to 1936. The historical references throughout, encourage learning in this time of great change. You will read about new technologies, the great depression, the Great War, World War II, cars and medical techonology which are all great starting points for extra research and learning.
We received a pdf of the book which is divided into five sections:

Prologue: New Rocelle 1950
Part One: Leaving Home 1906 – 1908
Part Two: New Rochelle 1908 – 1925
Part Three: Going On 1925 – 1936
Afterword

Strong Learning, Inc. also has some a treasure trove of learning materials on their page called Discover Bessie’s America. Topics included are European Immigration, Famous People, Food and Recipes, Health, Housework, Movies, Music and Dancing, News, U.S. Presidents and Radio. There is also a 16 page Teacher’s Guide that contains many instructions on how this book can be used as part of your social studies and language arts curriculum.

As a homeschooling family, we found this to be an amazing book that has become as a great resource in our children’s history lessons. I would definitely recommend this book for those with kids in middle school. The books was captivating from the start, easy to read, containing many tragedies as well as some great celebrations.

Bessie’s Pillow is available in print or for Kindle through the website.

This is a great video of the granddaughter sharing some details of the book.

Disclaimer: As I was reading this book aloud to my two boys, we came across a few moments that younger children may have found a little hard to handle. This is a real and honest book about what happened in this time period and contains scenes that young children many find hard to comprehend. If you are looking at reading it with younger children, I would encourage you to read it first.