From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:07:10 -0500

Many years ago, back when Number the Stars was brand new and not so
"overexposed," I had an opportunity to discuss this book with about a dozen 3rd, 4th and 5th graders who participated in a weekly public library book discussion group. As I was laying the groundwork for this discussion, I learned that none of them had ever heard of the Holocaust or Anne Frank. They didn't even know much about World War II. They had heard of Nazis, but didn't know anything about them except that they were "bad guys."
  I was surprised at how little these children knew. Prior to the discussion, I called each child's parent to tell them what we'd be discussing, so that they could be prepared if their child had additional questions. No parent was uncomfortable with the idea of his or her eight-year-old or ten-year-old leaning about the Holocaust. Clearly it wasn't something they were keeping from their children because they thought they were too young.
  Considering that the children knew next to nothing about what happened, I was impressed by how much they picked up from the historical context Lowry had created in the story. Her use of a familiar story (Little Red Riding Hood) as a literary illusion was very effective for these children. They understood the dangers and the risks people faced by working in the underground. They discussed the concept of heroism, comparing the little sister Kirsti's acts of defiance to those of Peter, a member of the resistance, and they concluded that Peter was more heroic because he understood the consequences of his actions, whereas Kirsti did not.
  After we discussed the book thoroughly, one eight-year-old girl said,
"There's just one thing I don't understand about 'Number the Stars.' The Nazis hated the Jews but the book never says why. Why did they hate them so much? Weren't they just people like us?" She had asked a key question, one that I, as an adult, had taken for granted. This led us into a discussion of anti-Semitism and to more questions about the Holocaust. I had brought in a few dozen books about the Holocaust from our library collection, both fiction and nonfiction, so that they could find out more, if they wanted to. They checked nearly every single book out that afternoon. I even lost one of my regular weekly participants as a result, since after reading "Island on Bird Street" he chose to follow the Uri Orlev path instead, reading everything Orlev had ever written that had been translated into English.
  Over all, the children expressed great indignation that something of this magnitude had happened and that no one had ever told them about it.
 They seemed to feel that there had been a conspiracy of silence among adults.
  So to respond to Ed's question about Number the Stars: "What are readers going to get out of the story if they don't understand why it is that the Jews are so desperate to escape and what will happen to them if the Nazis do get them?" I think they get plenty out of it. For many children, it serves as an introduction to an important piece of our history and inspires them to find out more. No one book about the Holocaust is the be-all and end-all. The power of Holocaust literature is that there are so many different versions of the same story, and the more we read, the less likely it is to be forgotten.
  KT
 
 
 
 
 
  Kathleen T. Horning, Director Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706
  horning at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608-263-3721 Fax: 608-262-4933 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Thu 20 Apr 2006 03:07:10 PM CDT