Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Karen E.
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Posted: Oct 03 2006 at 9:29pm | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

We've just finished Hilda van Stockum's The Borrowed House (which we all loved) and I don't yet have The Winged Watchman, which I thought would be our next read aloud.
Our library, however, has When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, by Judith Kerr.

Has anyone read this? What did you think?

Thanks!

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Patty LeVasseur
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Posted: Oct 04 2006 at 12:23pm | IP Logged Quote Patty LeVasseur

I have this book. I asked my two older boys (14 and 13) if they had read it and they both told me they had started it, but didn't finish it. (That is very unusual for them.) So I can't tell you if they liked it or not, but just that it didn't hold their interest.

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Posted: Oct 04 2006 at 1:04pm | IP Logged Quote stefoodie

same here. i borrowed it from the library and it sat by the fireplace for 2 whole months. neither the 15-yo nor the 10-yo picked it up. they did read escape from warsaw.   oh, and they LOVED the winged watchman.

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Posted: Oct 04 2006 at 4:38pm | IP Logged Quote ALmom

How Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is about a family in exhile from Hitler and it is OK but not nearly as riveting as either of the Bethlehem Books. I just don't think it had a lot of action in it - mostly from a young girl's point of view and while we read it, it simply did not hold our interest. On the other hand, The Winged Watchman is read and re-read and read again. It is currently our evening read aloud (about the 10th time we've been through the book) and it holds the attention of all of mine (boys and girls ranging in age from 4 - 14). I will admit the 4 yo generally falls asleep as we are reading but that's OK cause I know we'll read it again and again. Personally, I'd invest in The Winged Watchman. There wasn't anything wrong really with Why Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and you could check it out and take a peek at it while you are waiting for the other to come in - but I wouldn't bother to purchase it. (just my opinion, though).

Oh, if you ever find a hardback copy of The Winged Watchman, nab it. My paper copy got very dog eared with everyone stealing it off to their rooms to read ahead!

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Posted: Oct 04 2006 at 9:35pm | IP Logged Quote Kelly

We've read and re-read the "Winged Watchman". Great book. That being said, my dc have also read and re-read "Pink Rabbit". Go figure. They really liked it. But my vote would still lie with "Winged Watchman".

Have you read any of the Mitchell books by Hilda van Stockum? "Five for Victory" is also wonderful-and touches on WWII as the Mitchell father goes overseas to serve in the military, and the children form a friendship with a refuge child who moves in across the street from them. Another Five Star book from Mrs. van Stockum.

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Posted: Oct 05 2006 at 3:02am | IP Logged Quote Kathryn UK

I haven't read Pink Rabbit, but I did read the last book in the trilogy - interesting, but written at a more adult level than Pink Rabbit, I think. Totally off topic for World War II, but we love Judith Kerr's picture books - The Tiger That Came To Tea, and a series about Mog the cat ("Ramona" would adore these!).

Don't miss Escape From Warsaw (or The Silver Sword at it is titled here). It is one of those books that has stuck with me from my own childhood. I re-read it recently to check it out for reading to my 11yo, and it is still good   

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Karen E.
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Posted: Oct 06 2006 at 7:04pm | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I guess it won't hurt to get it from the library and try it, based on the mixed reviews here.

Our copy of Winged Watchman should be here any day now.

Thanks so much!

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Karen E.
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Posted: Oct 16 2006 at 8:44am | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

We ended up filling in with some non-fiction, and a walk through Welcome to Molly's World.

At this point, we've only just started Pink Rabbit (got it from the library), but so far we like it. Blogged on it this a.m.

And, Janet, I found a very cool old hardcover copy of The Winged Watchman!   Can't wait to dive in to that one!

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Posted: Oct 16 2006 at 6:52pm | IP Logged Quote ALmom

Karen,

You'll love it and be so glad you have it hard copy.

Janet
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Erin
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Posted: Oct 16 2006 at 11:53pm | IP Logged Quote Erin

Another title set in WW11 in Holland that my children loved was The Little Riders

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Posted: Oct 17 2006 at 10:56pm | IP Logged Quote teachingmom

Karen,
Have you seen this WWII picture book yet?

The Cats in Krasinski Square

I came across it in my library awhile back. Just from a quick perusal, I thought it looked interesting and made a mental note to check it out when we hit WWII in our history studies. Which may be after Christmas, when we finish in ancient Rome. I'd love to see your final list of WWII books that you and the girls enjoyed when you move on from that era.

Edited to add:
I found two more picture books while on the Amazon website looking for the above listed book. They both look good.

The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in World War II

The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey
(This one dovetails nicely with Mary G's Curious George unit!)

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Karen E.
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Posted: Oct 18 2006 at 7:35am | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

Thanks for the recommendations, Irene!

I also just found one at our library that moved me to tears:

Erika's Story

Also
(though I haven't previewed these yet):

Forging Freedom (which fits in nicely with some plot elements from The Borrowed House)

The Hidden Children

The Cat with the Yellow Star

Our library has quite a few more, and I could see us staying in this era for a long time.

Although, my oldest recently said that perhaps she needed a break from WWII because she had a dream the other night that she wanted to write a story, but couldn't -- because paper was being rationed.

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Posted: Oct 18 2006 at 3:16pm | IP Logged Quote MarilynW

We did a 2nd WW unit last year - some of the books we read that are not mentioned above are

1) Twenty and Ten - Claire Bishop (French kids hiding Jewish children from the Nazis)
2) Number the Stars - Lois Lowry (Nazi occupation of Denmark)
3) The Secret Seder - Doreen Rappaport (Jews in Paris)
4) Snow Treasure - Marie McSwigan (Nazi occupation of Norway)

The first two in particular are family favorites. We also love The Winged Watchman.

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Posted: Oct 18 2006 at 10:38pm | IP Logged Quote teachingmom

Karen E. wrote:
I also just found one at our library that moved me to tears:

Erika's Story


Wow. And I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes from just reading the blurbs on the Amazon website!


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Karen E.
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Posted: Oct 18 2006 at 11:15pm | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

Erin wrote:
Another title set in WW11 in Holland that my children loved was The Little Riders


Thanks, Erin! My library has that one as well as one of the books Irene mentioned.

MarilynW wrote:
We did a 2nd WW unit last year - some of the books we read that are not mentioned above are

1) Twenty and Ten - Claire Bishop (French kids hiding Jewish children from the Nazis)
2) Number the Stars - Lois Lowry (Nazi occupation of Denmark)
3) The Secret Seder - Doreen Rappaport (Jews in Paris)
4) Snow Treasure - Marie McSwigan (Nazi occupation of Norway)


Marilyn, thanks for additional titles. My library has both of those, too! Oh, I'm feeling rich.

We read Twenty and Ten and Number the Stars last month and we loved both of them. We watched the video "Miracle at Moreaux" (based on Twenty and Ten -- Have you seen it? So much of the book was changed, and I was really disappointed by that, but my kids decided that it was "a pretty good movie" ... it just wasn't Twenty and Ten.

We are all enjoying "Pink Rabbit" immensely, though we did have to skip one short passage today -- disturbing details about the treatment of a prisoner. But other than that, we're racing through it. I think it's wonderfully written.

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Posted: Nov 28 2006 at 3:29pm | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

Just wanted to thank:

Marilyn for the recommendations on Snow Treasure and The Secret Seder

Irene for Cats in Krasinski Square

Erin for The Little Riders

We really enjoyed all of these. I finished reading Little Riders to the girls this morning, and I was in tears. What a beautiful story, esp. regarding the German officer living in their house ... don't want to ruin it for anyone, but will just say that this book, in 76 short pages, touches on faith and loyalty, bravery, as well as what it means to have the heart of an artist. Just lovely.

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