Three Pieces of Broken Glass
A Picture Book
Will be published approx. on 14. May 2026
Book
Hardback
40 pages
978-1-4197-7872-8 (ISBN)
Description
Evocative and soul-stirring, Three Pieces of Broken Glass-based on the personal history of author Emily Barth Isler and featuring incandescent illustrations by Vesper Stampe-explores how we must seek to find beauty and strength in even the darkest, most broken times.
Three pieces of broken glass sit on Grandma Inge's windowsill.
Even though they are small, sharp, and jagged, the light shines through them, casting beautiful rainbows on the wall.
When Inge's great-granddaughter asks why Inge has kept these shards, she learns decades-old stories from her great-grandmother's life-from the joy of glass breaking at her wedding to harrowing reminders of smashed windows during Kristallnacht. And she comes to understand why we hold onto our memories both happy and sad.
From award-winning creators Emily Barth Isler and Vesper Stamper, this inspiring and moving story shows what it means to see the world in a hopeful light, even when it is broken.
Three pieces of broken glass sit on Grandma Inge's windowsill.
Even though they are small, sharp, and jagged, the light shines through them, casting beautiful rainbows on the wall.
When Inge's great-granddaughter asks why Inge has kept these shards, she learns decades-old stories from her great-grandmother's life-from the joy of glass breaking at her wedding to harrowing reminders of smashed windows during Kristallnacht. And she comes to understand why we hold onto our memories both happy and sad.
From award-winning creators Emily Barth Isler and Vesper Stamper, this inspiring and moving story shows what it means to see the world in a hopeful light, even when it is broken.
Reviews / Votes
***STARRED REVIEW***"A beloved relative's treasured artifacts convey events personal and historical in this meaningful telling from Barth Isler (The Color of Sound), making a picture book debut inspired by a family story, and Stamper (A Knot Is Not a Tangle)." * Publishers Weekly * ***STARRED REVIEW***
"Balancing soft washes of color for tender moments with images of glass cracking and shattering, Stamper's lovely watercolor and gouache illustrations bring life and depth to the events and the pale-skinned characters...Sweet, heartfelt, and altogether wonderful." * Kirkus Review * ***STARRED REVIEW***
"A beautiful blend of concrete objects and memory, of past and present." * Booklist * "[A] heartfelt . . .way of teaching children about culture and important historical moments...VERDICT Add to picture book collections to expand on Jewish culture and history through the prism of a warm, intergenerational afternoon." * School Library Journal * "This is a solid read-aloud to begin a discussion of Jewish history and family stories, or to remind clumsy kiddos that breaking something can be the beginning of a story rather than the end of the world." * The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Abrams
Target group
Children/juvenile
US School Grade: From Preschool to Third Grade, Interest Age: From 4 to 8 years
Illustrations
Full-color illustrations throughout
Dimensions
Height: 281 mm
Width: 232 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
486 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4197-7872-8 (9781419778728)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2026
Abrams Books for Young Readers
€17.49
Available for download
Persons
Emily Barth Isler is the award-winning author of the middle grade novels AfterMath and The Color of Sound. Her writing has appeared in Allure, Oprah Daily, O Quarterly, Kveller, Publisher's Weekly, Today.com, and more. As the cofounder of the Burbank Book Festival in Southern California, Isler loves providing opportunities for all kinds of stories to be heard. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two kids. Vesper Stamper writes and illustrates books that tell stories of broken things being put back together. Her debut novel, What the Night Sings, was a Sydney Taylor Book Award winner, a National Book Award nominee, and a National Jewish Book Award finalist. She and her husband, Ben Stamper, have all sorts of artistic escapades near New York City, where Vesper teaches illustration at the School of Visual Arts.