Time period for "I am David"

Tagged: ,

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • April 25, 2011 at 9:20 pm
    Sue
    Participant

    In History Module 6, a book entitled “North to Freedom” (retitled in the U.S. from the original “I am David”) by Ann Holm is included among the books for grade 8.  I haven’t read the book, and the SCM Bookfinder did not list any years for historical setting, so I’ve been searching to see where other sources have placed it.  So far, everything I’ve read is very vague, ranging from 1945 to simply post-World War II to the Cold War era.

    Can anyone who is familiar with the book place it a bit more definitively?

    Thanks,

    Sue

    April 25, 2011 at 9:45 pm
    6boys1girl
    Participant

    Hey,

    If this is the book I’m thinking of, it’s about a boy who escapes from a concentration/work camp during WWII.

    Sorry I can’t be 100% positive. All our books are packed as we are moving soon.

    -Rebecca

    April 25, 2011 at 10:19 pm
    Bookworm
    Participant

    We aren’t positive, either, but it feels very Cold War-ish to us.  We had the distinct impression that it was a Communist camp he was escaping from, although none of us can say why we felt that way.

    I can confidently say it is 20th century!  Laughing  I wouldn’t really consider it a history read, but a literature one, and the exact placement is really immaterial. 

    April 25, 2011 at 10:42 pm
    Sue
    Participant

    It is listed under the SCM Curriculum Guide’s History Module 6, and I imagine it’s a good living book for the WWII or post-WWII era.

    April 25, 2011 at 11:46 pm
    Bookworm
    Participant

    It’s a good book, but to me it’s much more about the emotional consequences of deprivation and loneliness than it is about an historical period.  I think the  exact historical period is left vague, perhaps deliberately.

    April 26, 2011 at 4:26 am
    Sue
    Participant

    I probably would want to read it, at least in part, before we get too close to needing it in our curriculum.  There is another book for World History listed in the SCM guide following this one, and it is definitely the WWII time period.  I will want to get a feel for whether we should read “I am David” before or after the other one.

    I’m wondering if there is simply a shortage of good living books that depict history in post-WWII eras.  This is, after all, more recent history, so perhaps I’ll have to rely on whatever spine I can find for 1945 & onward, plus I was thinking I’ll have to invite a few older relatives over to tell their stories to the kids.

    This is also making me wish I had had the foresight years ago to encourage (and journal) more stories from our next door neighbor, an elderly German immigrant who had spent time in a Nazi concentration camp.  Unfortunately, at the time, I was only 11 or 12, and she really didn’t think a child ought to hear much about the horrors she had lived through.  Ah, well….and I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to my paternal grandmother and her siblings, either–I just thought their accents were fun to listen to.  Humph….kids!

    April 26, 2011 at 11:03 am
    Emily Kiser
    Participant

    This is a wonderful book, and I agree–it is great for a literature selection.  However, it does give insight into the time period following World War II. Dates aren’t specifically mentioned, but by the lack of chaos and war-time and just post-war-time issues, I believe we are to take it as sometime in the 1950s.  A boy escapes from a Communist Concentration Camp in Bulgaria, travels through Italy, Switzerland, and ultimately Denmark.  We loved the movie, I am David, but when reading the book found they left the most important part out–how David finds God through nature.  Very CM!

    Another good book about post-WW2, IMO, is The Ark, by Margery Benary-Isbert.  It tells the story of an Eastern German girl whose family is displaced by the war and is trying to rebuild their lives in another city.  The insight it affords into the feelings of a conquered nation makes this one not to miss.

     

     

    April 26, 2011 at 5:12 pm
    Sue
    Participant

    @livbkslib, Thanks for the suggestions.  I was thinking it was late 1940’s or the 1950’s as well.  Concerning the book, The Ark, would you say it reads at a 7th grade level or above?  We may or may not be using it as a read-aloud, so my 13yo dd might be reading it on her own.

    Thanks,

    Sue

    April 26, 2011 at 6:13 pm
    csmamma
    Participant

    This book has been one of our fav’s. In addition we recently watched the I Am David film and have to say it was extremely well done – absolutely loved it. Just be sure to have kleenex close by Wink.

    April 27, 2011 at 11:34 am
    Emily Kiser
    Participant

    As far as the Ark goes, yes it wouldn’t be below a seventh grade reading level.  Though younger children would get a lot out of it as a read-aloud.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • The topic ‘Time period for "I am David"’ is closed to new replies.