A favorite work of Czech humor, We Were a Handful depicts the adventures of five boys from a small Czech town through the diary of Petr Bajza, the grocer s son. Written by Karel Polacek at the height of World War II before his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, this book draws on the happier years of Polacek s own childhood as inspiration. As we look upon the world through Petr s eyes, we, too, marvel at the incomprehensible world of grownups; join in fights between gangs of neighborhood kids; and laugh at the charming language of boys, a major source of the book s humor. This translation at last offers English-language readers the opportunity to share in Petr s (and Polacek s) childhood and reminds us that joy and laughter are possible even in the darkest times.