The Story of Hurry

Williams, a physician and journalist who witnessed the second Palestinian intifada while living in Jerusalem, bases this haunting, hopeful, and relevant story on an incident that took place in the Gaza Strip in 2008. Hurry, a donkey who is always in a rush, slows down enough to notice that the local children are often sad, thirsty, and afraid ("Some nights, the sky thundered and brightness cracked the sky"). Longing to make them happy, Hurry and a boy named Wattan visit the keeper of the zoo, where most animals have died, who suggests how Hurry can "help [the children] dream": he dyes Hurry's fur to resemble that of a zebra, giving kids the chance to see and even ride an "exotic" animal. Both Williams's prose and Quraishi's mixed-media illustrations strike a balance between portraying raw reality and leaving room for interpretation and discussion. An assemblage of photos, stark silhouettes, and abstract flourishes, the pictures mesh comforting and disturbing images%E2%80%94Hurry himself appears as a wooden toy, a striking symbol of innocence in a story built around children forced to grow up quickly. Ages 3%E2%80%937. (Sept.)