We started (and finished) this wonderful little book yesterday. It's a quick but absorbing read that includes humor, suspense, children who act like real children, and the reality of Nazi regime evil without taking that aspect so far that it's inappropriate for younger children. My girls loved the courageous and lively nun, Sister Gabriel, who counts on the twenty Christian boys and girls to take in the ten Jewish children in need of refuge. And they were pulled in to the story immediately through the 13-year-old narrator, Janet, and her brave and clever friend, Henry.
I won't tell you more, so as not to spoil it for you, but I highly recommend Twenty and Ten.
5 comments:
We read this last year when we studied modern history. What a great book!
Karen-
How old are your kids? This book is part of Sonlight's K package-I started it with my 4 and 5 year olds but then decided I just didn't want to "go there". My girls are now 4, 6, and 7. Do you think I should wait a few more years?
Jennifer
This book inspired a television movie starring Loretta Swit called Miracle at Moreaux. I can't seem to get it to pull up at Barnes & Noble right now (isn't technology fun?), but I see Amazon lists it. I don't know what happens in the book when a Nazi asks a very little boy where the Jews are, but in the movie it was almost staggering, as I recall. Rightly or wrongly (it's been years and years) I remember the movie as well above what you usually get for TV movies.
Jennifer,
My opinion is to wait. There's nothing graphic in the book, but the concepts are well beyond Kindergarten. I'm shocked Sonlight would put it in the K package! I didn't want to "go there" with my kids at those ages, either. Trust your instincts. When mine were younger, the only WWII stuff we did was the Molly books from American Girl. :-) Even now, I'm not going into all the detail of the horrors of the Holocaust. I think it's a very individual choice -- when you're ready to "go there" with them
... you'll know.
Kathryn -- great to hear that you liked the video. There's a blurb for it on our book, so I had looked it up on Amazon, and wondered how faithful they were to the story. The moment when little Louis is asked where the Jews are is staggering in the book, too. Wonderful. It sounds worth ordering. Thanks!
Thanks Karen. Sonlight also has a book on their K list called (I think) Family Under the Bridge about a homeless family. We skipped that one, too!
Jennifer
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