Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan’s Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants
by Norman H. Finkelstein; illus. by Vesper Stamper
Primary    Holiday    40 pp.
2/24    9780823451647    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780823457724    $11.99

This picture-book biography tells the story of Cahan (1860–1951), cofounder and later editor of the Forverts, the Yiddish newspaper known in English as The Jewish Daily Forward. Finkelstein’s clear text traces Cahan’s journey from the Pale of Settlement—he fled after being questioned by czarist police over his support of workers—to New York, as well as his experiences as a new immigrant before the paper’s founding. The book’s depiction of Cahan’s work on the paper emphasizes his understanding of and advocacy for the needs of other Jews, immigrants, and workers. Stamper’s bustling street scenes, classrooms, and newspaper offices include plenty of instances of print to pore over in multiple languages (Cahan “loved words” in English, Russian, Hebrew, and Yiddish). Back matter includes more information on Cahan and on Yiddish, an author’s note, a timeline, a bibliography, and suggested further reading.

From the January/February 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.