Five Stories

Five children, from five different cultures and in five different decades, grow up in the same building on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Jenny Epstein and her family arrive on a steamship from Russia in the 1910s. Jenny writes letters in Yiddish to her grandmother, while practicing her English in her new neighborhood. By the 1930s, when Anna Cozzi and her Italian family move into the building, Jenny has become a teacher in Anna’s school. Then José Marte moves in during the 1960s, Maria Torres in the 1980s, and Wei Yei in the Lower East Side of today.

Perfect for early elementary students, this cross section of American history celebrates themany diverse cultures that make up our nation—from the food we eat, to the ways we worship,and the families we love.

Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Crystal Kite Winner
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year★ "This is a wonderful look at how immigrants have changed a community for the better. It would be an excellent book for a lesson on how communities evolve over time. A first choice for libraries needing books about communities, immigration, and changes over time."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

"[A] vibrant celebration of immigrants and the multicultural richness of New York City."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"Tantalizing glimpses of a diverse neighborhood’s cultures and origins, with insight into the commonality that underlies them."—Kirkus Reviews

"Wein­stein has dis­tilled the essence of New York city life, and has also giv­en five indi­vid­ual sto­ries their own unique space.”—Jewish Book CouncilEllen Weinstein is the illustrator of the picture book Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity and the author/illustrator of Recipes for Good Luck: The Superstitions, Rituals, and Practices of Extraordinary People. As an illustrator, she is a regular contributor to Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, amongst many others. Seven pieces of Ellen’s work are in the Permanent Collection of the Library of Congress. Ellen is a third-generation resident of New York’s Lower East Side, where she lives with her husband and mini-dachshund, Fritzie.