It was his birthday.
I thought a new book would be good. It is in the 'I love kid's top 50', it has won 'The children's book council of Australia Honour Book' award and the main character is a boy. Terrific! Bought and wrapped.
It wasn't till he was half way through it that I read the blurb for 'Once' by Morris Gleitzman:
'Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad. Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house. Once I made a Nazi with a toothache laugh. My name is Felix. This is my story.'
Oh oh - Nazi.... 'Um, Sam is this book sad?' 'Yes Mum - you would probably cry'. So I thought I'd better read them to see what he was digesting and whether it was appropriate.
So by this point, he is onto the next book in the series called 'Then'.
'Once' is based on the views and experiences of a jewish boy called Felix who is around ten years old and living in an orphanage in Poland that his parents sent him to in 1939. Three years and eight months later, he receives a whole carrot in his soup, which he thinks is a sign from his Mum and Dad (jewish booksellers), and that they are finally coming back for him. This inspires him to escape from the orphanage, and journey across Poland in the hope of finding his parents.
Felix naivety and innocence means that he often assumes some of the most horrific things that he encounters are mistakes or accidents. These assumptions make some of the more harrowing scenes and themes less so (for children readers) but still gut wrenching for the poor adult readers that know exactly what is going on. I still can't believe these terrible things happened and to see the horror through the eyes of a child the same age as my son was almost unbearable.
The book was brilliant but terrible - very much like 'The boy in the striped pyjamas'. Of course, I then had to read 'Then' and 'Now' which were both equally harrowing but amazing.
If you feel like being moved and encouraged by what must have been amazing human spirit during the war, I highly recommend these books - but read them before your children!
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2 comments:
Jane, we haven't covered this territory yet, but I keep coming across Morris Gleitzman on Radio National where, you won't be surprised to hear, he is often interviewed regarding what is/isn't appropriate subject matter for younger readers. I am bracing myself for when we get there....
Hi Janey I had the same experience when one of Dans boys brought home 'tomorrow when the war began'. I found that with difficult subject matter, reading the book at the same time as him and chatting informally about the ideas gave me a great chance to connect and maintain your status as a sounding board. We still chat about tricky topics now and he is in his twenties. Good luck!
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