Virtual program: Curious George – Saved by Sousa Mendes!

Author-illustrators Hans and Margret Rey fled Nazi-occupied France on handmade bicycles with the manuscript to the first Curious George book among their meager possessions. Thanks to a fortuitous encounter with Aristides de Sousa Mendes, they were all saved. Meet Louise Borden, author of The Journey That Saved Curious George, and Sheila Abranches-Pierce, granddaughter of Sousa Mendes. The program moderator will be Robert Jacobvitz.  This will be a fun program, appropriate for all ages.

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RAVE REVIEWS for The Journey that Saved Curious George:

“A fine introduction to the period for young children, a model of documentation, and an exceptionally inviting and well-designed book.” —Horn Book

“A stirring, uplifting, and elegantly packaged saga.” —Publishers Weekly

An American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book

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Want to know more about about Sousa Mendes? See the film!

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MEET THE SPEAKERS

Sheila Abranches-Pierce (left) is the granddaughter of the Holocaust rescuer Aristides de Sousa Mendes and his wife Angelina.  She is a former Board member of the Sousa Mendes Foundation and has been active in telling her grandfather’s story since the 1990s. Born and raised in the East Bay, she spent 27 years working in the banking industry in New York before moving home to California to marry her high school sweetheart. Over the years, she has enjoyed the privilege of representing the Sousa Mendes family at various events in the tri-state area, Portugal, France and California. Sheila now lives in San Ramon, CA with her husband, Darrell, two step children, Jordyn and Jalen, and their family cat, Raider.

Louise Borden (right) is the highly regarded author of many books for young readers, including The Journey That Saved Curious George and His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, both published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as well as The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in WW II and The Greatest Skating Race, a fictional story about a Dutch boy helping others during the occupation of his country in WWII. Borden believes in the importance of teaching history to young readers in a direct and engaging way. She consulted on a major exhibition on the Reys’ escape and has spoken at schools, libraries, and museums across the country.xxxxx

Robert Jacobvitz is a graduate of Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work and holds an MSW in Community Social Work. For ten years he directed the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater East Bay, and it was in this capacity in the 1980’s that he began championing the cause of Aristides de Sousa Mendes. In 2005 he received the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Humanitarian Medal from the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. He wrote a seminal article on Aristides de Sousa Mendes that can be read at this link.

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PLEASE NOTE: The program is free, but we are taking this opportunity to encourage donations to our project of interviewing survivors.  Donate $36 or more, and receive an autographed copy of the lavishly illustrated and delightful book The Journey that Saved Curious George, inscribed to the recipient of your choice.  A rare opportunity!

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PLEASE NOTE: Registration for this program is closed.