Cheryl JBook Review - The Boy With the Striped Pyjamas (a story of the holocaust)
April 4th 2008 09:15
I recently picked up a book not knowing it was a book meant for children. It's called 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' by John Boyne. It was the blurb on the back that made me want to read it and although it is written for kids it is a story that just as easily speaks to an adult audience. It will certainly distress sensitive souls no matter their age because of the subject matter. It is a simple story with a powerful impact.
It is the story of Bruno, a nine year old, who is moved from his comfortable house and surrounds to a house in the middle of nowhere. He has no friends and no children to play with until he meets Shmuel, a boy on the other side of the wire fence outside his new home. A boy, who like everyone else on the other side of the fence, wears striped pyjamas.
Bruno is completely unaware of the horrendous violence being inflicted on the people of Europe by his homeland. He just knows that his father works for a very important man called 'the fury' and he has moved to a very lonely place called 'out-with'. He knows nothing of the Holocaust. It is Germany. It is war time.
It is Bruno's friendship and loyalty that leads him to climb beneath a gap in the fence to explore Shmuel's world and go on a mission to help his friend in his search for his father whom he cannot find.
The narrative of the book is written from the perspective of the innocence and cavalier attitude of a child, in a language that children can relate to and adults can see for the unmistakable story of horror that unfolded in World War II. This is the author's first children's book after four novels for an adult audience which is probably why it can hold the attention of adults through to its final horrible realisation of evil.
The Holocaust is a hard subject to think and read about but this story is worth the read and would be an incredibly good and gentle way for older children to understand the impact of the atrocities of war. I would easily recommend it for anyone but take into consideration the age, personality and sensitivity of a child if you give them the book. As it says in the quote from The Australian newspaper, 'It haunts the mind for days after'.
It is the story of Bruno, a nine year old, who is moved from his comfortable house and surrounds to a house in the middle of nowhere. He has no friends and no children to play with until he meets Shmuel, a boy on the other side of the wire fence outside his new home. A boy, who like everyone else on the other side of the fence, wears striped pyjamas.
Bruno is completely unaware of the horrendous violence being inflicted on the people of Europe by his homeland. He just knows that his father works for a very important man called 'the fury' and he has moved to a very lonely place called 'out-with'. He knows nothing of the Holocaust. It is Germany. It is war time.
It is Bruno's friendship and loyalty that leads him to climb beneath a gap in the fence to explore Shmuel's world and go on a mission to help his friend in his search for his father whom he cannot find.
The narrative of the book is written from the perspective of the innocence and cavalier attitude of a child, in a language that children can relate to and adults can see for the unmistakable story of horror that unfolded in World War II. This is the author's first children's book after four novels for an adult audience which is probably why it can hold the attention of adults through to its final horrible realisation of evil.
The Holocaust is a hard subject to think and read about but this story is worth the read and would be an incredibly good and gentle way for older children to understand the impact of the atrocities of war. I would easily recommend it for anyone but take into consideration the age, personality and sensitivity of a child if you give them the book. As it says in the quote from The Australian newspaper, 'It haunts the mind for days after'.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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wonderful review cheryl!
Comment by Cheryl J
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