Can you imagine a world where this is the norm? Where multitudes of children are thinking seriously about how to decipher history books through reading Animal Farm. It seems fantastic, but you're bringing that closer to reality.
These have changed a lot since I started doing them. Everyone's getting better. I hope for all parents to be able to have joyful, important conversations with their children.
Thanks for a very interesting, thought-provoking article. You said you’d wait until high school to introduce the Holocaust to your children, and I agree with your premise on that part of the war. There are some good books, though, including novels geared to children, to help introduce them to important themes and stories about WWII.
A novel written for children that I love, in particular, is geared toward 4th-6th graders, and was written by Hilda Van Stockum. The title is “The Winged Watchman” and it’s set in the Netherlands.
It’s about a family who runs an authentic windmill and how they not only struggle, but also thrive, during the war years in Europe. The children are playful, yes, but also highly resourceful, and they take on various active roles helping their whole family during a time of uncertainty, and sometimes, hardship. Van Stockum writes books that have empathy for children and she writes well from their perspectives, not going too deeply into the horrors of war. Instead she imparts an air of tension that children can cope with and she gives her characters important roles in which they are also faced with difficult decisions about what action to take, or not, in the context of the story. Instead, in this way, she allows children to see themselves making hard choices and also being brave, which all children long to be, when they have to make decisions in life.
Thank you so much for this. I will put it on my list for my children. There is another book by the author of the Giver that is about the holocaust. I suspect we'll end up reading it in middle school. It's such an incredibly important time period and I want to ensure I do it justice. Thank you for the recommendation. I truly appreciate it.
This is incredible.
Can you imagine a world where this is the norm? Where multitudes of children are thinking seriously about how to decipher history books through reading Animal Farm. It seems fantastic, but you're bringing that closer to reality.
This is a great conversation!
These have changed a lot since I started doing them. Everyone's getting better. I hope for all parents to be able to have joyful, important conversations with their children.
Thanks for a very interesting, thought-provoking article. You said you’d wait until high school to introduce the Holocaust to your children, and I agree with your premise on that part of the war. There are some good books, though, including novels geared to children, to help introduce them to important themes and stories about WWII.
A novel written for children that I love, in particular, is geared toward 4th-6th graders, and was written by Hilda Van Stockum. The title is “The Winged Watchman” and it’s set in the Netherlands.
It’s about a family who runs an authentic windmill and how they not only struggle, but also thrive, during the war years in Europe. The children are playful, yes, but also highly resourceful, and they take on various active roles helping their whole family during a time of uncertainty, and sometimes, hardship. Van Stockum writes books that have empathy for children and she writes well from their perspectives, not going too deeply into the horrors of war. Instead she imparts an air of tension that children can cope with and she gives her characters important roles in which they are also faced with difficult decisions about what action to take, or not, in the context of the story. Instead, in this way, she allows children to see themselves making hard choices and also being brave, which all children long to be, when they have to make decisions in life.
Thank you so much for this. I will put it on my list for my children. There is another book by the author of the Giver that is about the holocaust. I suspect we'll end up reading it in middle school. It's such an incredibly important time period and I want to ensure I do it justice. Thank you for the recommendation. I truly appreciate it.
I absolutely enjoyed reading this article & listening to your children's thought process, gently prodded by their Mum.
I'm so grateful. Thank you for the kind words.