From the book, “Tikvah: Children’s Book Creators Reflect on Human Rights,” Copyright 1999, by the University of Connecticut. “Tikvah” is the Hebrew word for hope. Tomie’s contribution, abridged": “A child’s first confrontation with human rights can often occur at a very early age. Maybe not human rights in the larger context that involves racism, sexism, homophobia… Still I have a strong conviction that the attitude toward human rights that an individual carries within himself or herself is formed when very young… The image here has its roots in 1942… [The assignment was to draw a Christmas tree.] Little Tomie’s [drawing] wasn’t hung up because he drew an angel instead… In my real and true life, the art teacher who came around every six weeks recognized me and my angel. I learned human rights from her. I was special because she was special. Just because neither of us fit into the mold didn’t mean we weren’t human and didn’t have rights…” (Bob)
