Which book for WWII?

[ABQmom]

I have several titles on my list that we didn't read in our first rotation. I also have dc from ages 13 down to 5, so I don't want to upset my youngers with the atrocities of WWII. What would you suggest I read out loud, and what should I assign my older 2 girls to read independently?

 

We haven't read Number the Stars, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hiding Place (should I save this one for high school?), The Devil's Arithmetic, The Endless Steppe.... Those are a few we have not read that I'm considering.

 

Any other suggestions?

[patchfire]

Number the Stars is, IMO, very 'gentle.' I would wait for Diary of Anne Frank until at least 7th grade age, and similar with The Hiding Place. I haven't read the other two so I can't comment.

 

Next year I'm having dd (who will be 9/4th grade) read both Number the Stars & Twenty and Ten, and then we're going to discuss from there.

[Jen+4dc]

We just finished this one on CD in the car with all 4 of my dc. Ds7 absolutely LOVED it and ds10 and dd12 got the gentle intro to Nazi attrocities and life in Nazi occupied countries that I wanted. My oldest is now reading Anne Frank on her own because she wants to. The others are not.

 

I highly recommend Number the Stars for the ages of your dc! *I* learned a lot of fun things I didn't know before!! A great gentle intro to WWII.

[Cinder]

I can comment on Number the Stars and Anne Frank; I haven't read the others.

 

I think Number the Stars would make a good read-aloud. It is rather suspenseful in parts. If your youngers are very sensitive they may be troubled by some of it: the Jews' businesses being destroyed; the threat of being caught hiding/transporting Jews; the chance of the main character being caught by a soldier. Nothing graphic. Your olders could easily read this themselves. There is a free lit guide for this that gives some insight and good discussion questions:

 

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/numberstars.html

 

I didn't actually read Anne Frank. Ds1 read it in co-op a couple years ago. He hated it, but the girls in the class loved it. They were around the ages of yours. One caution: there is an updated version that includes diary entries that had been left out of the earlier version. The deleted entries mostly revolve around her exploring her sexuality. I'm not sure how detailed or graphic it gets. We got the older version.

 

Cinder

[ABQmom]

I didn't actually read Anne Frank. Ds1 read it in co-op a couple years ago. He hated it, but the girls in the class loved it. They were around the ages of yours. One caution: there is an updated version that includes diary entries that had been left out of the earlier version. The deleted entries mostly revolve around her exploring her sexuality. I'm not sure how detailed or graphic it gets. We got the older version. Cinder

 

Thanks for the warning. I have a book called Anne Frank that is a Childhood of World Figures book. Has anyone read this? I'm thinking it might be an easier read than the original Diary of Anne Frank.

[patchfire]

Thanks for the warning. I have a book called Anne Frank that is a Childhood of World Figures book. Has anyone read this? I'm thinking it might be an easier read than the original Diary of Anne Frank.

 

I forgot to mention it before - I am having dd read this book as well. I want her to know who Anne Frank *is* but not actually read the Diary yet.

[EmilyK]

My ten year old loved Snow Treasure, and we got it from our library on CD too. Very gentle.

[Matryoshka]

I'm glad to read this thread - I just today took Number the Stars out of the library as an audiobook, and I was hoping it was okay for my dd8.5 as well as my two 11yos. Most of the other books on the period my 11yos will be reading themselves, other than non-fiction read-alouds. And I was planning to have the younger one read Twenty and Ten herself (along with some picture books), so good to see a plug for that too. :001_smile:

[Ellie]

The Summer of my German Soldier, probably for your olders to read independently, not because there's violence or anything but because they'll understand things better.

 

Also The Chestry Oak--rare, out of print, but worth it if you can find it.

[wonderfilled]

I didn't see anyone mention The Little Riders. I checked it out recently from the library and read the whole thing in one evening to my 4 boys- 8 and under. We have a hard time showing moderation when it comes to a good book. (Okay, I have to admit the 18 month old didn't get much out of it but the others- 4,6, and 8 enjoyed it.)

[Rene Austen]

In addition to the books already mentioned, we also read The Winged Watchman by Hilda von Stockum, and it was great! Not a violent book, but gives an accurate and interesting picture of occupied Holland, and a heartwarming portrait of a family's courage in dark times.

[pooh bear]

Here are a few suggestions. I have not read these, but they are one my to buy list

 

Elephant Run

 

Carries War

 

Blitzcat

 

The Machine Gunners

 

Friend or Foe

 

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

[LibraryLover]

Snow Treasure would be a great little book for the younger children, and interesting enough for the older ones, I think.

 

http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/viewWorkDetail.do?workId=619

[katilac]

I think you are going to have a really hard time combining those age groups for WWII. There aren't many books containing Holocaust material that I would consider reading to your little ones - - we read "Twenty and Ten" when my kids were 6 and 8, and that was plenty of suspense and emotion for them. But it keeps more a tone of 'adventure' while not denying the hardships of war, and what would happen if the children were found.

 

"Number the Stars" is still fairly gentle, but not for a 5-yr-old, imo. One of our local schools has an excellent literature/history tolerance program, and they read it in 5th grade. (they are considering emotional difficulty more so than reading difficulty, kwim?)

 

In their program, "Daniel's Story" is 6th grade; "Diary of Anne Frank" is 7th grade; "Night" is 8th grade.

 

I would likely read "Twenty and Ten" to all the kids, then splinter off with the older kids. Depending on how close they are in maturity, I'd either read with the two oldest together, or assign them different books. I know that my oldest dd, 10, would still benefit from read alouds on this subject simply because I would be there for emotional support.

 

Now, on other aspects of the war, my oldest dd enjoyed "Code Talker" and other books about secret codes - - a very important element in this war! It's pretty long, so more assigned reading rather than a read aloud. You could easily summarize the story for the littles, and then do a code making activity.

 

They both enjoyed some true spy stories; can't recall the titles, but one of them was from Scholastic, and pretty much named "True Spy Stories from WWII" or similar.

[ABQmom]

I think you are going to have a really hard time combining those age groups for WWII. There aren't many books containing Holocaust material that I would consider reading to your little ones - - we read "Twenty and Ten" when my kids were 6 and 8, and that was plenty of suspense and emotion for them. But it keeps more a tone of 'adventure' while not denying the hardships of war, and what would happen if the children were found.

 

"Number the Stars" is still fairly gentle, but not for a 5-yr-old, imo. One of our local schools has an excellent literature/history tolerance program, and they read it in 5th grade. (they are considering emotional difficulty more so than reading difficulty, kwim?)

 

In their program, "Daniel's Story" is 6th grade; "Diary of Anne Frank" is 7th grade; "Night" is 8th grade.

 

I would likely read "Twenty and Ten" to all the kids, then splinter off with the older kids. Depending on how close they are in maturity, I'd either read with the two oldest together, or assign them different books. I know that my oldest dd, 10, would still benefit from read alouds on this subject simply because I would be there for emotional support.

 

Now, on other aspects of the war, my oldest dd enjoyed "Code Talker" and other books about secret codes - - a very important element in this war! It's pretty long, so more assigned reading rather than a read aloud. You could easily summarize the story for the littles, and then do a code making activity.

 

They both enjoyed some true spy stories; can't recall the titles, but one of them was from Scholastic, and pretty much named "True Spy Stories from WWII" or similar.

 

Yes, you've summed up my difficulty very well. I have a lot to think about!

[EmilyK]

My kids ( 7 and 10 ) and I just read a picture book called The Secret Seder. Doesn't take long to read but very moving.

[Kate in Arabia]

Not specifically on the Holocaust, but my ds 7 (8 in less than a month) really likes the Chester Crab history comics by Bentley Boyd; he has one on World War II, it focuses on the battles:

 

http://www.amazon.com/World-War-Tales-Chester-Comix/dp/1933122269/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248072323&sr=8-1