The Lily Cupboard

Rating:
Summary: Excellent choice
Review: 28- page picture book. A little Jewish girl is taken to thecountry and cared for by a gentile family. The father fashions ahiding place for her behind a lily-painted cupboard . She must hid here when the soldiers come to search for her. A fictional account of the brave Dutch people who risked their lives to save the Jews in Holland. A moving story with beautiful illustrations. Excellent for young children.

Rating:
Summary: Touching story that leaves much unsaid
Review: This story is told rather ambiguously... the facts of the girl going to the country to stay with a family, and where she hides when the soldiers come, is simply told. Why she has to go to the country and why she has to hide, are more complex issues. This story does not attempt to explain all the details and reasons why. Because of this, it is appropriate in the opening of dialogue about WWII and the Holocaust with children of all ages.

I could read this story to my 4 year old, or I could have my 9 year old read it. It's not the complete story - but not all children can fully understand or are ready for the complete story.

I felt that the information was handled with dignity, and it wasn't told in a maudlin manner at all. As a teacher and mother, I can recommend this book to any child who is ready to learn a little about this tragic time in our history, even the most sensitive students.

Rating:
Summary: Gentle
Review: This story provides a gentle fictional account of a child named Miriam forced to hide in the Dutch countryside during the Holocaust.

The book opens on May 10, 1940, when Holland was invaded by Germany, noting that for the next five years, Jewish citizens of Holland were sent to concentration camps where many died hideous deaths. But that is this story's only mention of what became of the vast majority of Europe's Jews during World War II.

The next page introduces Miriam and her parents, who explained to her that she must hide on a farm until the danger passed. Miriam packed one suitcase including her favorite books. In the countryside filled with tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, Miriam met the boy named Nello with whose family she would live for the next five years. Miriam's parents explained that she would be safe with them because they were not Jewish.

Once during her years with the family, Miriam was forced to hide in a cupboard, which had been pre-determined for those times when German soldiers might come. Outside the door, Nello's parents answered the harsh and mean soldiers in soft, gentle voices.

When the story ends, it's not clear whether Miriam would ever see her parents again. But that's the point of this tale, meant to introduce children to the Holocaust, without frightening them out of their wits.

The key idea here is that some Europeans were good and some Jewish children were safe. Alyssa A. Lappen