Francesco Tirelli's Ice Cream Shop

Audiobook Review:I love fictionalized history written in story form for children. This is one such book. We learn of a young boy, Francesco, who loves ice cream and particularly enjoys it from his uncle's shop. The boy continues to love ice cream as he grows. He moves to Hungary and wants to open an ice cream shop in Budapest. Given that this was in the early 1900s, opening an ice cream store in Hungary was highly unusual. But this ice-cream-loving man opened up his ice cream store. Later, when World War II comes knocking on Hungary's door, Francesco decides to help Jews hide by finding places for them and even hides them in the back of his ice cream shop. He even finds a way to help them celebrate Hanukkah. This story is written by a relative of Peter, a boy of one of the saved families featured in the story. While I loved the story, I wasn't wild about the narrator. He talked in an artificial way that sounded like an excited newscaster. There is a spate of books currently about World War II, but I always think there is room for one more when it tells the story of something that really happened. We need more of these stories of just regular people surviving the war—their often heart-wrenching stories—especially when they did extraordinary things, like this man did. If you want to share a real-life World War II story with your child, this one is a good one.I received a free copy of this audiobook, but that did not affect my review.

Oh my loveliness!!!! I have read many books regarding the Holocaust, but never a children’s book. A handful of middle and young adult books, but never one for small children. This was based on a true story and I was unsure what to expect. This audiobook has, by far, surpassed my wildest expectations!! It was so heartfelt, yet gentle while still remaining very knowledgeable and true.Having two small children myself, I believe you have to be careful when you discuss tragedies with them. They understand more than you think, but you also don’t want to terrify them into thinking humanity is a lost cause. This story gracefully glides along that line and provides a wonderful story that a child of any age will adore! I love it and I am well into adulthood, I think…I recommend this, honestly, to everyone. Having listened to the audiobook rather than look at the picture book, I cannot attest to the pictures, but if they’re even a fraction as good as the cover, I would still recommend this to all. It spans the ages between pregnancy to the grave. If you’ve read all about the Holocaust, this is a good book to read as a spot of hope in the darkness of those tragic times. If you’ve never read anything about the Holocaust, this is a good place to start. What are you waiting for? Go read this book! It’ll be good for your soul!!!Thank you so so very much to NetGalley, Lerner Audiobooks, and the publisher for providing with a copy of this magical audiobook for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Francesco Tirelli's Ice Cream Shop is a charming (albeit sobering) true story about how an ice cream shop saved lives during WWII. Francesco's love of ice cream was initially fostered in his uncle's Italian shop. When Francesco grew up and moved to Hungary, he made the bold move of opening a shop of Italian ice cream (there is a fun little rhyme about ice cream flavors that gets repeated throughout the book).Francesco's love of ice cream overflowed to a boy named Peter. When his family needed a safe place to hide during the war, Francesco came up with a brilliant plan that saved not only Peter but many others. When Peter grew up, he moved to Israel where he enjoyed telling his grandchildren about his time in that ice cream shop. This remarkable story was written by his granddaughter, Tamar Meir. I highy recommend this book; it provides an age-appropriate way to introduce the reality of WWII to elementary-age children.The audiobook was a very entertaining listen, but I would suggest following along with the physical book so children can delight in the engaging illustrations (the cover is a marvelous preview of the sweet things inside!).

We love reading picture books based on true stories and this one was inspiring and engaging. And the illustrations are so charming! It follows a gelato loving boy who moves to Hungary as a grown man and opens his own shop. When World War II comes he longs for a way to help his Jewish friends and realizes his ice cream shop (closed for the winter) would be the perfect hiding place.There is a Jewish boy in the story that especially loved ice cream and was among those hidden in the shop. He went on to live a full life and had multiple great grandchildren. The author of the book is his daughter in law.It is a wonderful example of someone who saw injustice and found a way to step up and do their part to fight it. My kids also loved hearing the characters talk about different flavors of gelato/ice cream and were more than happy to eat some while listening to the story.