Age Appropriateness: intermediate

Media: photograph ( )

Number the Stars is about a girl named Annemarie who lives in Denmark during World War II and the German occupation. Her best friend is a girl named Ellen whose family is Jewish. When they discover that the German soldiers are coming to "relocate" all Jewish families, Annemarie's family takes in Ellen as their own daughter to hide her from the soldiers. They also send Ellen's parents with a close friend to hide them as well. They all meet up at Ellen's Uncle's house, along with a few other Jewish families. They are taken to Ellen's Uncle's fishing boat, and he takes them across the sea to Sweden where they can be free.

This has been one of my favorite book since I first read it in fourth grade. At first I didn't really understand everything that was going on in the book, but the older I got the more I realized how good this story really is. It is based on real events, and reading this book makes me feel good to know that there were people out there willing to risk their lives in order to save the Jews from the Nazis.

This would be a great book to read to students to introduce them to World War II and the holocaust. After students learn about the holocaust this book could give them some relief in knowing that there were people who helped the Jews. Students could write about how they would have felt living in that time period.

This book has excitement and suspense and is also a very touching story. I liked reading it when I was in middle school and re-read it several times. ( )

During WWII, Denmark was invaded and ran by the Germans. The Germans sought out all of the Jews and were shipping them off. Annemarie and Ellen are best friends in Denmark during the 1940’s. Annemarie has to find courage to help Ellen’s Jewish family escape to Sweden. Annemarie helps face the Nazi soldiers with courage.

Good book, great story of courage that includes Jewish history during WWII. I think that since this book is told by a child that it will be easier for children to understand.

1. Illustrate a scene from the book.
2. Study WWII
3. Discuss the title of the book. Where did it come from?

Annemarie Johansen is a normal girl with a normal best friend named Ellen. But Ellen is a Jew and the bulk of this story is how Annemarie's family helped Ellen's family escape, without the children knowing most of the details. Ellen hides with Annemarie's family pretending to be Annemarie's deceased sister, Lise. Annemarie, her sister Kristi, Ellen and Annemarie's mother travel to Uncle Henrik's house to help Jewish people escape to Sweden. Annemarie is a vital part of the escape when she helps deliver an important package after her mother tripped and fell returning to the house.

This is a great piece of literature for a sad time in history. Everyone studies the Holocaust and I think this novel illustrates it from a child's point of view. How very little they knew about what was truly going on. I also love the patriotism. There is a quote about all of Denmark being the King's bodyguard. I wish America could say that! The setting helped tell the story and it was very well told. It fits right along with Anne Frank's diary.

I think this would be harder to extend in class than most stories. We could find some actual accounts of children the age of the children in class and read them. We could also read/watch a movie about Anne Frank. We could write about how we would feel if we had to live like that.