60-day returns • free shipping on USA orders $129+
WWII history books – which would you choose?
- This topic has 10 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 5 months ago by
.
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
- Posts
I am trying to decide between two books, and although I’m borrowing both from the library tomorrow to look them over, I was wondering what any of you thought about The Diary of Anne Frank and the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
Do you think either of them would draw in my readers (ages 11, 12, and 13) more than the other? If you’ve read them both, which do you feel gives a greater historical picture of the WWII era? Are either/both better suited to these ages as a read aloud?
We may end up reading both (or just the 13yo may read both), but in case I have to choose, I’d like some opinions on the books.
Thanks,
Sue
Hi Sue,
We have both. While my children have read Number the Stars numerous times, I’ve not included Anne Frank in the reading list because of the sexual ponderings that are included in her diaries. I may have heard somewhere that this part was revisionist, but I do not know if there is a version without it. The Hiding Place is another good book, but for older students (maybe 13+); there is just one reference to ‘what is sex’ and it is handled nicely or can be easily skipped. All of these books are engaging and give as clear a picture of the era as they should for their target audience.
Blessings,
Cindy
It has been too many years since I’ve read the Diary of Anne Frank so I can’t really comment on that one, but Number the Stars was one of the novel studies we did when I was a 6th grade classroom teacher at an international Christian school for missionary kids. I thought it was a very good book with some of the darker issues of WW2 handled in a sensitive way, and also has some good fodder for discussion. (In my classroom we often got into a big discussion about whether or not lying to protect the Jews was OK or not.) It is a relatively short, easy read. It is possible that it may engage your girls more than the boys, just because the protagonist is a girl, but I don’t remember the 6th grade boys in my classroom complaining about it either. I liked it, and will probably include it on our reading lists when my children are older.
Jen
I think it’s a good idea for your 13 yr. old to read both, Number the Stars is short and an easy read.
Number the Stars is excellent; we read it aloud when my children were 10, so your two younger ones would get a lot out of it.
I think Anne Frank may be harder for your two younger ones to get into, but would be a valuable read for your 13 yr. old. It’s a personal account of living in incredible conditions and so it’s very different from NTS in style and purpose. It has the small day-to-day accounts that the reader can try to put themselves into the shoes of those who had to live as they did. The fact that it’s true and a primary account makes it valuable. Mine are reading it when they are 11 and 12 next year, but they have grown up yearly observing Yom HaShoah-Holocaust Rememberance Day; they already read Devil’s Arithmetic and The Winged Watchman this past summer, for example; both of which they thought were very good and they learned from them. My son wanted to read The Hiding Place, but I told him he had to wait till around 14 or 15.
Regarding any sexual thought life entires into the Diary…; there are only three versions that have taken her original diary and added back in 30% of the content that Otto Frank had had removed in the 1947 Dutch version and subsequent English versions based on that original Dutch version. Here’s what I wrote after doing my research:
Otto Frank had about 30% edited out of the original 1947 Dutch language version; sexual thoughts of a girl going through puberty, severely negative comments about her mother and her parent’s relationship, as well as observations and negative comments about the other family.
An English version was published in 1952 based upon the edited version of 1947. The book remained that way until 1989 with the release of the original, unedited diary in The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition
Then in 1991 came Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl – The Definitive Edition w/Susan Massotty as translating the unedited passages in this version.
Then in 2003 came The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition; again containing the extra material.
As far as I have been able to discern, these three are the only ones-at this point-that are the unedited ones. So if you want the edited version, you’ll need to seek out versions published prior to 1989 and without Susan Massotty as a contributing translator. I have a copy published in the 70’s, based on the 1952 english version, introduced by Eleanor Roosevelt, and it has a page in the back informing you that there was editing invovled-so it’s good.
HTH,
Rachel
Here’s some other books to look at, too that may be at the library:
Of Heroes, Hooks, and Heirlooms – Holocaust – Faye Silton- ages 8-12
Ten Thousand Children: True Stories Told by Children Who Escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport- Anne Fox – gr. 4-8 (this was interesting)
Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps – Andrea Warren – ages, for a mature 10+ (my children were affected deeply by this one)
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow –Susan Bartoletti -gr. 5-8
Far From the Place We Called Home – Kindertransport England – Sarah Schleimer- ages 12+
The Hidden Children– Howard Greenfield-ages 8-12
The Righteous Among the Gentiles: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust – Mordacai Paldiel (with Vad Yashem)-High School/Adult
The Hiding Place – Corrie Ten Boom – ages 14+
Escape from Warsaw – Ian Serralier – ages 12+ , 1942, based on true accounts
In the Mouth of the Wolf – bio, Poland WWII- Rose Zar – ages 10+
Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust –Milton Meltzer –ages 12+
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story – Jews saved to Japan- Ken Mochzuki-gr. 2-5
Raoul Wallenburg: The Man Who Stopped Death – saved Jewish lives-Sharon Linnea-ages 9+
My Heart in a Suitcase – Anne Fox-Library of Holocaust Testimonies
The Holocaust: A History of Courage and Resistance – Bea Stadtler-gr. 4-6
The Holocaust: The World and the Jews 1933-1945 – Seymour Rossel-gr. 7-9
Hitler’s War Against the Jews– David Altshuler – gr. 9 – adapted from Lucy Dawidowicz’s book
No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War – personal memoir, Anita Lobel – ages 10-16 (this has a high recommendation)
Rachel
Thank you all, especially Rachel for the list of other books. I think I will leave Anne Frank until later, especially since my younger two will be doing this module again in high school. I like Number the Stars, and I’ll probaby assign either Anne Frank or one of the other suggestions for my older daughter to read on her own.
Sue
The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy is a must read for this time period IMHO!! I read it aloud this summer and our whole family from ds age 6 through dh, I won’t mention his age 😉 absolutely LOVED this book!! It’s out of print and can be hard to locate, but I would go to great lengths if you can. Blessings, Melissa
Another book I really like that hasn’t been mentioned is The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig; it tells a little-known story of a Jewish family who was on the Russian side of the line drawn by Hitler and Stalin, was deported to Siberia, and had to live there during the war. I read it when I was a girl and hunted it down again when I had children so I could read it to them.
Oh yes, MIchelle, I came across that book in my searches; I don’t know how I missed copying onto my list. A more mature read selection is about the Bielski brothers. They escaped to Belorussia and created a forest city, saving 1200 lives by wars end. The book that seems to have the greatest amount of history is The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy. However, I haven’t read it yet, so can’t exactly recommend it to a high schooler since the only thing I know is the story (which is worthwhile) and that it is not for the skiddish. I plan on reading it as I find it to be fascinating that they were able to survive with all these people, in the forest, for over 2 years! Hopefully, it’s not too graphic-I’m sensitive to graphic images and descriptions.
Melissa, I put that book on my wishlist; I like resistance books. Two others for me on the “to read list” is the book about Bonhoeffer: Prophet, Pastor, Martyr, Spy by Eric Metaxas and the autobiography, The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 by Wladyslaw Szpilman
Of course, this is completely off the age group Sue requested in the first place, but I thought I’d bring them up for the adults or for high school.
Rachel
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
- The topic ‘WWII history books – which would you choose?’ is closed to new replies.