Margit, Book 3: Open Your Doors

Description

92 pages
Contains Maps
$8.99
ISBN 0-14-305009-5
DDC jC813'.54

Author

Year

2006

Contributor

Illustrations by Janet Wilson
Reviewed by Susan Merskey

Susan Merskey is freelance writer in London, Ontario.

Review

It is 1947, and Canada has opened its borders to 1,000 Jewish war
orphans from Europe. Margit hears about this when her own Toronto Jewish
community is asked to open its homes and hearts to these children. She
is determined to welcome a child to her family, even though, between
school, housework, and helping to care for her brother, she barely has a
moment to herself. Her parents are reluctant. They are just beginning to
feel settled in Canada and are reluctant to take in another child. But
Margit remembers what it felt like when she first arrived in Canada. She
at least had her mother to protect her, but even this didn’t entirely
prevent her from feeling all alone, especially in her first days at
school. So Margit resolves to help one of the orphans, and in the end,
Lilly is able to join their household.

The three Margit books in the Our Canadian Girl series trace Margit’s
life from her flight from the war-torn Czechoslovakia in 1944 through
her early years in Canada. Author Kathy Kacer has written several books
introducing Holocaust-related topics to preteen readers. All are
excellently researched, and the stories are told in such a way that
readers can gain an understanding of the horrors of the period, but
without being frightened by them. Open Your Doors is another in this
tradition. Recommended.

Citation

Kacer, Kathy., “Margit, Book 3: Open Your Doors,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed November 5, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/21857.