I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker

It is the summer of 1939 in Warsaw, Poland and Michal is an eight- year-old boy just finishing his school year. In order to improve his handwriting, Michals teacher gives him a simple assignment: keep a journal, writing one sentence a day. Eighty years later, Michals diary has been gorgeously illustrated with beautifully atmospheric paintings. Eloquent in its simplicity, the journal is a remarkable artefact that captures the innocence of childhood and the trauma of war. The journal starts out with a typical boys observations: July 15: I went to a stream with my brother and teacher. July 23: I found a caterpillar. However over the course of weeks, menacing details emerge. July 27: A plane was circling over Anin. September 1: The war has begun. September 3: I hid from planes. September 14: Warsaw is bravely defending itself. These haunting entries are interspersed with visits from relatives, a soccer game, a trip to a park, an ice cream cone. Photographs of pages from Michals diary enhance the poignancy of this simple recordan ordinary holiday interrupted by war; a life changed forever by an extraordinary moment in history.