The Island on Bird Street

Published in 1981, The Island on Bird Street is a historical middle grade novel by Israeli author Uri Orlev. The semi-autobiographical story set in Poland follows Alex, a young Jewish boy who is forced to fend for himself when his father is taken away by German soldiers during World War II. Love for his father and the promise of his return are the sources of strength the 11-year old boy clings to in order to survive.

Orlev was recognized with a Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1996 largely due to this book’s contributions to children’s literature.

Along with being a widely recognized work in Holocaust literature, Orlev’s narrative is a coming of age story. Alex is forced to mature under the most harrowing of circumstances. Told from his first-person perspective, the narrative combines elements of bravery and courage against a tapestry of violence and hate.



Alex faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles as he attempts to avoid the merciless brutality of the Nazis. The boy also must contend with the betrayal of his own countrymen, some of them sympathizers to the German cause and the complete eradication of the Jews.

Along with these more obvious antagonists, Alex is forced to contend with nature without an adult showing him the way. Alex’s sojourn however, is made somewhat easier by the prior knowledge he was able to gain from his parents. Before he is captured, his father teaches him how to be proficient with a pistol. And at the rope factory where his father works, an old man named Boruch teaches him how to tie knots.  The pistol provides protection for Alex when he is forced to escape the Nazi eradication of the Jews.  Additionally, Alex builds a rope ladder to reach the broken-off floor of a building in the Warsaw ghetto where he hides out.

It is in this room, through air vents, that he watches life on the Polish side of the ghetto wall in the town where he lives. Among the activities he witnesses is a pretty girl studying in a house on the street opposite him and a kind-looking doctor who welcomes secret visitors.



A short time after, an uprising threatens his isolation. Two rebels burst into his hiding place, followed by a German soldier who Alex shoots. One of his fellow Jewish neighbors, part of the Polish underground, escapes the German invasion through an opening in the wall. Soon after, Alex dresses himself as a Polish schoolboy and goes through the wall himself.  It is around this time that Alex also meets a girl in the park and sets a date with her. He discovers that she is also Jewish. Alex is encouraged by their meeting and continues communicating with the girl. And as he experiences various trials and brushes with death along the way, Alex comes into his own, proving capable of defending and providing for himself.

From a symbolic perspective, Orlev’s novel is reminiscent of popular works of fiction involving children and the struggles they must often face. At the outset of the story, Orlev’s young protagonist is dependent on his father as adolescent boys would typically be. However, through circumstances beyond his control, Alex must learn to exist in a world that is as unmerciful to children as it is to adults. Alone, Alex is compelled to find a way to build a new life for himself. Nature also plays an important role in the narrative, as indicated by the author’s choice of title.

The author portrays his protagonist in a manner that inspires the reader’s empathy. Alex stares wistfully at life beyond the ghetto where he hides. Through the war-torn chaos, the boy reaches out to passersby for love and companionship.



While the novel is presented mostly from the perspective of a young boy and is geared toward children within that age group, it has achieved crossover success to older audiences. Orlev’s story highlights the child-like need that lives within every adult. There is a sense of escape that is present in the re-creation of a child’s imagination. And at the same time, the novel presents a unique opportunity for adult readers to identify with a child’s way of coping with and understanding profound questions about life. Through Alex’s struggle, readers are reminded that each individual is responsible for their own survival.

Orlev’s narrative reflects much of his own experiences having to survive often-insurmountable odds as a child. During Germany’s occupation of Poland, Orlev hid in a Warsaw ghetto with his mother and brother between 1939-1941. When they were ultimately found, his mother was killed by the Nazis and he and his brother were sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The Island on Bird Street received a Mordechai Bernstein Award in 1981 and was recognized on the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honor List Book for Israel in 1982.