by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 26, 2010

It's a strange format. Instead of text, this children's book has captions - like the captions in a silent movie - below a series of black and white illustrations. They tell a story which feels like a 1920s melodrama - but parts of it are recognizably true. An immigrant family arrives in America - and then struggles to find a new path.

The melodramatic twist is that a mother and son get separated from the boy's father - so they wander the city streets without speaking English.  "Three days later. Their money gone, the only way to get food is by begging," another caption explains. But then a man with a handlebar moustache steals their money and runs...

The book's author - named simply "Avi" - was 66 years old when he wrote "Silent Movie," so I wondered if he had memories of watching them. He's written more than 50 other children's books (including two Newberry Honor Books) according to this book's jacket - but more importantly, he also enjoys watching Charlie Chaplin movies. And sure enough, he elaborates in an author's note at the end of the book. ("When I was a child you could still see silent movies at special theaters. Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton were favorites of mine.") And he felt the same thrill when he saw some images by C. B. Mordan, who eventually was chosen to illustrate this book. In his own note, Mordan tells the reader "I hope that when you look at 'Silent Movie', it will at least in some part, feel likesitting in a darkened theater as another world opens before you.")

The story tells the story of immigrants to America at the turn of the 20th century - and it opens with a suitably dramatic introduction. ) "Some are fleeing hardship. Others come because they believe America is 'The Promised Land.'..") There's a dramatic image showing the silhouette of crowd of immigants - looking out at the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty. But eventually Avi turns from the story of all immigrants to the story of just "Papa" and his family.

The mother discovers - in three captions - "a friend from the Old Country... Shelter... and a job..." And the boy is discovered by a silent movie director. The lonely father hasn't found his family, but he takes a break at the neighborhood Nickelodeon. And to his surprise, his spots his lost son - as an actor up on the screen! Charlie Chaplin's soulful  expressions are also credited by the book's jacket as "a major inspiration" for the book's illustrator. But I think the book is paying tribute to the whole genre of silent movies - not just their concise title cards and punchy commentary. It also shows some real fondness for their dramatic black-and-white images and their old-fashioned, heart-tugging stories.

"God Bless America," the story ends...

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