Alte Zachen: Old things

A trip through the city turns into a trip down memory lane, as an old Jewish woman and her grandson shop for ingredients for a Friday night meal. 11-year-old Benji, and his grandma, Bubbe Rosa, are shopping for the ingredients for Friday night dinner. Bubbe’s relationship with the city is complex – nothing is quite as she remembered it and she feels alienated and angry at the world around her. Benji, on the other hand, looks at the world, and his grandmother, with clear-eyed acceptance. As they wander the city, we catch glimpses of Bubbe’s life and loves, piecing together the history to gain an insight into the tender soul that lies behind the cantankerous exterior. Alte Zachen is a powerful, affecting and deceptively simple story of Jewish identity, of generational divides, of the surmountability of difference and of a restless city and its inhabitants. This critically acclaimed title was shortlisted for the Carnegie Awards, 2023, and won the V&A award for Best Children’s Book Illustration, 2024.