Journey to the Golden Land

The pictures tell the story in this book about turn-of-the-century emigration to America. When Benjamin's Papa and Mama receive a letter filled with money from Papa's brother in the ``Golden Land,'' they decide that the family will have a brighter future across the ocean than in czarist Russia. Rosenblum emphasizes the terrors of the journey: the family escapes soldiers, endures a difficult crossing and faces the officials at Ellis Island, who change the family's name when Papa cannot spell it. The elaborately wrought black-and-white illustrations, many modeled on vintage photographs, variously suggest the calm of Benjamin's native village and the huddled hopeful masses at Ellis Island. Where the illustrations are precise and abundantly detailed, the text tries hard to serve as Everyman's family history. References to the characters' religion are suppressed and geographic locations, other than Russia and New York, go undisclosed. But the attempt at universality frequently ends in simplistic writing: ``The Czar made cruel and unjust laws and used mean soldiers to enforce them.'' For older readers, Karen Hesse's Letters to Rifka offers a more thorough and dramatic treatment of this subject. Ages 5-9. (Nov.)