Irena Sendler, born in 1910 to a Polish Catholic family, was raised to respect all people, regardless of their race or religion. As an adult she became a social worker, and after the Germans occupied Poland during World War II, Irena knew she had to help the Jews who were packed into the Warsaw Ghetto. She began by smuggling food, clothing, and medicine into the ghetto, then turned to smuggling children out of the ghetto. Using false papers and creative means of escape, Irena risked her own life to rescue Jewish children and hide them safely in orphanages, convents, and foster homes. Hoping to reunite the families after the war, Irena kept secret lists of the children s identities, which were buried in jars under an apple tree. Motivated by her humanity and armed with compassion and a belief in human dignity, Irena Sendler proved to the world that an ordinary person can accomplish extraordinary deeds

I liked this book for a few reasons. First, it was very informative about the Holocaust and depicted the situations well. When Irene talked to the gate guards, one said "shut that dog up before I put a bullet in it!" They were very aggressive. I also liked that she put her life on the line to save thousands of children, it was really brave. The message of the story is that not everyone can be saved, but do your best to try. ( )

This pronominal children's book tells the true story of a woman who helped children escape from concentration camps during World War II. In my opinion, I loved this book. I liked it because it really pushes young readers to think about this difficult subject. I think this could be used in any classroom to begin the discussion of WWII. I also loved this book because Irena was a well developed character. She was incredibly compassionate and believable for the time period. A final reason I loved this book is because the illustrations enhanced the story. They were dark in color but it fits the mood of the story really well. The overall message of this story is that compassion can go a long way. Irena was able to save hundreds of children's' lives because of her compassion. Though it is a sad story, it ends on a very uplifting note. ( )

Irena's Jars of Secrets is an amazing account of the Holocaust and the desperation that it caused among the Jewish people. The writing in this book is appropriate and simple enough that younger children can understand and relate to, but it is also mature enough that it could be read by older children.

Irena's Jar of Secrets is all about bravery. Irena is horrified by the extermination by Hitler of the Jews, so she worked with a secret underground group to help carry hundreds of children out of the ghetto. She kept jars with record of every child's name she helped. She is captured, tortured, and abused. What will happen to Irena? Her legend will live on forever.