Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope
Illustrated by Zosia Dzierżawska
Candlewick Press
Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable 2020
Tablet Magazine Best Jewish Children's Books of 2019
"This delightful story deserves
its charming illustrations....This inspiring, overlooked historical
figure showed that experimentation isn’t limited to science."
—Booklist
"Unusual and fascinating" —Kirkus Reviews
"This is an inspiring story of determination and hope." —School Library Journal
Meet the boy who made up his own language—and brought hope to millions!
Life was harsh in the town of Bialystok, and Leyzer Zamenhof thought he
knew why. Russian, Polish, German, Yiddish—with every group speaking a
different language, how could people understand each other? Without
understanding, how could there be peace?
Zamenhof had an idea: a "universal" second language everyone could
speak. But a language that would be easy to learn was not so easy to
invent, especially when even his own father stood between him and his
dream. Yet when at last in 1887 "Doctor Esperanto" sent his words into
the world, a boy's idea became a community that spread across the globe.
Author Mara Rockliff and Polish illustrator Zosia Dzierżawska
bring to life the story of Esperanto—the language of hope.
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