For the second week of the Children’s Readathon, hosted by This is My Truth Now, we are reading Children’s Readathon Award Winners.
My final read for this week is Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
Over the years, I have read many of Lois Lowry’s books, I do not know how I missed this one. This is a poignant tale of Annemarie Johansen and her family living in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1943. Annemarie’s best friend is Ellen Rosen, a young Jewish Girl. When the nazis finally decide to relocate the Jewish people, a high-ranking German official tells the Danish government. The rabbi at the synogogue the Rosens attend warns them. The rest of the story details the secrecy and the plans the resistance has to smuggle the Jewish people out of Denmark, across the sea to safety in Sweden.
This is a story of bravery, love, sacrifice and success. The story is told in simple language for children. It is not gruesome or descriptive of the horrors that occurred, but it is easy to see the burdens and fear the Danish people lived with. This book is a Newberry Award winner and it is easy to see why. This is not a long book, but it is an important story. Once again, I have learned something about the people who survived WWII that I was not aware of before.
Make sure you read the afterword as it informs the reader of the true facts, what part of the story is fiction and some background to the author’s research and motivation to write this book.
August 20, 2018 at 1:07 am
I read this book in Middle School! I remember liking it and thinking it was super important to read. But I don’t remember much else about it. Great review!
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August 20, 2018 at 11:53 am
Thanks Brittany. I was pleasantly surprised as I had never read this one.
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August 19, 2018 at 9:18 pm
Sounds like a good one. Adding it to my list. Great review!
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August 20, 2018 at 11:58 am
Thanks Dee, it is a great story that would be excellent for those middle graders out there.
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August 19, 2018 at 8:08 pm
I have this book saved on Scribd… I gotta read it!
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August 19, 2018 at 8:10 pm
It is a great one to share holocaust issues without the explicit information. I hope you like it.
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August 19, 2018 at 6:51 am
Great review. This has been sitting on my classroom shelf for five years and I haven’t gotten around to it. I’ll have to bump it up on my list.
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August 19, 2018 at 7:54 am
Absolutely. What grade do you teach?
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August 19, 2018 at 7:56 am
I teach high school but special ed so my students are all on elementary reading levels. I was going to read it with them but the majority of them actually read it before.
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August 19, 2018 at 8:38 am
I used to teach Special Education classes as well but elementary level. They loved me reading to them as much as I loved doing it.
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August 19, 2018 at 10:16 am
Yes! But not so much for me anymore. My kids need to start reading more on their own for sure.
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August 18, 2018 at 11:22 pm
Saved at https://thisismytruthnow.com/childrens-books-readathon-august-2018/childrens-readathon-award-winners/
Thank you for sharing! Bravery – so true… such an important lesson to teach.
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August 18, 2018 at 10:30 pm
Terrific review!
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August 19, 2018 at 7:57 am
Thank you.
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August 18, 2018 at 9:52 pm
I have of course heard of this book, but have not actually read it. I do remember my daughter being moved when she read it as part of a middle school unit on the Holocaust.
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August 19, 2018 at 7:53 am
I hope students still read this one.
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