CCBC-Net Archives
[CCBC-Net] Fwd: Re: A caveat
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Karen M. Rasmussen <kras>
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:31:09 -0500
I have read this book and actually found it quite moving. I do agree that in real life a child would have a better grasp of what is going on around him, but I suspect that the author wanted to make a contrast between the innocence of the child and the evil surrounding him. For that reason, I am not disturbed that the incidents in the book are not absolutely historically accurate.
The book has stayed with me since I read it about a month ago. As I read it, I did wonder how a child who does not know much about the Holocaust would react to it. But the ending is so poignant that I would hope that they would understand the horror of the Holocaust and seek more information.
I actually cataloged the CIP for the American ed. of this book. I did agonize for a while when it came to assigning the age level. Although at first glance the book seems aimed at primary grades, I actually think it's appropriate for ages 12 and above. I gave it a main subject heading for the Holocaust.
I'll be curious to hear the opinions of others who work with children every day.
Thanks for raising this topic.
Karen
**The opinions in this message are of the author and not the Library of Congress**
*********************************************** Karen M. Rasmussen Catalog Librarian Children's Literature Team Library of Congress 202-707-3869 kras at loc.gov
>>> "Ruth I. Gordon" <druthgo at sonic.net> 03/02/06 7:34 PM >>>
A British friend sent me a book which s/he thought might interest me. It has not been published in the U.S., but certainly may be. I would like librarians in the U.S. to read it before publication here if possible. BOYNE, JOHN The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (David Fickling Books, G.B., 2006) Publisher's web site: www,davidficklingbooks.co.uk
I have several concerns about the protagonist, a young German boy, 8-9, who lives in a home of an important Nazi-S.S. officer, his father. The family transfers from Berlin to Poland to a place Bruno calls "out with," and who refers to the national leader as "The Fury." The book has neither notes, afterword, foreword, or any explanatory matter. Now, I have a fairly good memory and background in modern history and W.W. II so could figure out that "The Fury" is the Fuhrer and "out with" would be Auschwitz. That's for starters. But what about those who do not have adequate, or even minimal, knowledge of the camps, the Holocaust, the Nazis--and research indicates that many, many people in the U.S. lack such information. Wouldn't the son of a high ranking Nazi know that "Fuhrer" was just that and not "Fury." Wouldn't he have known the greeting "Heil Hitler" and what it meant? What are striped pajamas?
As the book proceeds, Bruno, who sees the fence around the place, is lonely and walks a long distance along the fence where he meets "the boy in striped pyjamas," Shmuel, a young prisoner about the same age as Bruno. The boy is far away from the masses jammed into the camp. That's another bit of non-history. Shmuel would have been one of the first to be sent to death when he debarked from the train because he was a child. Once within the camp, he would not have been allowed to leave the rest of the prisoners on his own at any time, no less every day.
And I can continue about style, situation, history, misinformation, lack of explanation, and the state of Holocaust denial among many people who are in the news.
Boyne's book worries me. In fact, I am upset about the possibility of its publication.
Should others read it, I will be grateful for their views.
Ruth Gordon
(Big Grandma)
_______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
-------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Karen M. Rasmussen" <kras at loc.gov> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] A caveat Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:25:25 -0500 Size: 4263 Url: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/private/ccbc-net/attachments/20060303/e8d4d43d/attachment.mht
Received on Fri 03 Mar 2006 07:31:09 AM CST
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:31:09 -0500
I have read this book and actually found it quite moving. I do agree that in real life a child would have a better grasp of what is going on around him, but I suspect that the author wanted to make a contrast between the innocence of the child and the evil surrounding him. For that reason, I am not disturbed that the incidents in the book are not absolutely historically accurate.
The book has stayed with me since I read it about a month ago. As I read it, I did wonder how a child who does not know much about the Holocaust would react to it. But the ending is so poignant that I would hope that they would understand the horror of the Holocaust and seek more information.
I actually cataloged the CIP for the American ed. of this book. I did agonize for a while when it came to assigning the age level. Although at first glance the book seems aimed at primary grades, I actually think it's appropriate for ages 12 and above. I gave it a main subject heading for the Holocaust.
I'll be curious to hear the opinions of others who work with children every day.
Thanks for raising this topic.
Karen
**The opinions in this message are of the author and not the Library of Congress**
*********************************************** Karen M. Rasmussen Catalog Librarian Children's Literature Team Library of Congress 202-707-3869 kras at loc.gov
>>> "Ruth I. Gordon" <druthgo at sonic.net> 03/02/06 7:34 PM >>>
A British friend sent me a book which s/he thought might interest me. It has not been published in the U.S., but certainly may be. I would like librarians in the U.S. to read it before publication here if possible. BOYNE, JOHN The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (David Fickling Books, G.B., 2006) Publisher's web site: www,davidficklingbooks.co.uk
I have several concerns about the protagonist, a young German boy, 8-9, who lives in a home of an important Nazi-S.S. officer, his father. The family transfers from Berlin to Poland to a place Bruno calls "out with," and who refers to the national leader as "The Fury." The book has neither notes, afterword, foreword, or any explanatory matter. Now, I have a fairly good memory and background in modern history and W.W. II so could figure out that "The Fury" is the Fuhrer and "out with" would be Auschwitz. That's for starters. But what about those who do not have adequate, or even minimal, knowledge of the camps, the Holocaust, the Nazis--and research indicates that many, many people in the U.S. lack such information. Wouldn't the son of a high ranking Nazi know that "Fuhrer" was just that and not "Fury." Wouldn't he have known the greeting "Heil Hitler" and what it meant? What are striped pajamas?
As the book proceeds, Bruno, who sees the fence around the place, is lonely and walks a long distance along the fence where he meets "the boy in striped pyjamas," Shmuel, a young prisoner about the same age as Bruno. The boy is far away from the masses jammed into the camp. That's another bit of non-history. Shmuel would have been one of the first to be sent to death when he debarked from the train because he was a child. Once within the camp, he would not have been allowed to leave the rest of the prisoners on his own at any time, no less every day.
And I can continue about style, situation, history, misinformation, lack of explanation, and the state of Holocaust denial among many people who are in the news.
Boyne's book worries me. In fact, I am upset about the possibility of its publication.
Should others read it, I will be grateful for their views.
Ruth Gordon
(Big Grandma)
_______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
-------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Karen M. Rasmussen" <kras at loc.gov> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] A caveat Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:25:25 -0500 Size: 4263 Url: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/private/ccbc-net/attachments/20060303/e8d4d43d/attachment.mht
Received on Fri 03 Mar 2006 07:31:09 AM CST
