"Beautiful and exceptional picture book."
- KATHY BLOOMFIELD, ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES MONTHLY JOURNAL
" Valuable and inspiring." - KIRKUS
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"Gottesfeld's compelling telling is supplemented by comprehensive notes. Witanto's illustrations richly render the story." - PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
"Gordon is a hero unfamiliar to most American readers who now have the opportunity to learn about her extraordinary life in an elegantly designed children’s book....Highly recommended."
- EMILY SCHNEIDER, JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL REVIEW
" The text is written for younger children, but it serves as a great example to older students of the difference one individual can make." - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
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"The unlikely story of a Jewish woman named Beate Sirota (considered a hero in Japan, yet hardly known by Americans) is told well." - LISA SILVERMAN, JEWISH JOURNAL
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"No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan certainly meets the criteria for consideration for the Sydney Taylor Book Award. It offers an historically important and little known story of a young Jewish woman in Japan who, without understatement, changed the world, all while being beautifully written and illustrated for its intended audience, readers ages 7 – 12." - MEG WIVIOTT, THE SYDNEY TAYLOR SHMOOZE BLOG
"Beate was just 22, the only woman in a room of lawyers and officers. She asked herself, “What do I know about constitutions?” Determined to learn, she scoured Tokyo for useful books. A few libraries had survived, battered guardians of hope to help people turn from war to peace."
Podcast:
Host Heidi Rabinowitz interviewed Jeff Gottesfeld about his book No Steps Behind.
Blogs and Articles
Students translate No Steps Behind to Japanese- Colby College (Waterville ME, alma mater of author)
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The Impossible Life of Beate Sirota Gordon-"Beate was a heroine with complex and overlapping identities that defy easy categorization."
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A Shock to the System- "We are just starting to see the effects of the Covid-19 shock on our world, nation, communities, families, and selves. May they prove as positive as the ones that Beate helped to bring to Japan."
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