The Yellow Bird Sings

Based on true events, this brutal and sad retelling of the struggle for survival of a Jewish mother and her child during the second world war in Poland is both poetic and poignant. The story showcases the power of love and willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of ones children.

The power of the story is definitely driven by its basis in reality. These are events that actually happened. These are real people and real lives. The mother and the child make sympathetic centerpieces to the story, amidst the brutal and harsh landscape of the war. The people who help them often seem to have ulterior motives and the things to which they submit to survive are heartbreaking.

The poetry of the piece comes through its symbolism. The yellow bird of the title is an imaginary friend of the child, that the mother uses in stories to persuade her to be quiet, to hide and to survive. There is strong theme of music throughout. The violin and the escape of music provides a more hopeful theme that runs parallel to the main story.

This is not easy reading. It is a difficult and painful subject. It is told with a lovely sympathetic style which helps smooth out the jagged edges, the painful brutality of the subject.

This was my 4th Goldsboro book of the month. All of them have so far been really interesting (and different) tales. This one is no exception, and a worthy addition to my shelf.

Beautifully written and moving story. A musician or someone who loves music – especially classical or violin – will appreciate it even more than I did, I am sure, because the violin and the power of music generally is an important element woven throughout the book. I'm addicted to books about WWII, perhaps because I feel we are on the verge of something similar now and I want to learn my lesson and anticipate and prepare. This is the story of the love between mother and daughter, what we do to survive, the power and beauty of music, longing, survival, and much much more. I admit to skimming a few paragraphs off and on but in general I loved it.