I opened up a chapter book this weekend! This shouldn't be surprising, as I am a school librarian...but my reading stamina wanes at home during the school year. I think it's the days of reading aloud, professional learning, discussing books, and reading/ composing emails that wears my eyes out. Picture books are my saving grace from August through May!
I picked up a newly-released copy of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas from our review table at our last librarians' meeting.
Written by John Boyne, it was originally published in 2006 and made into a movie in 2008. Both events eluded me ten years ago, but I'm happy to be catching up with the book now.
Oliver Jeffers is a favorite illustrator of mine, and his style lends itself perfectly to this story of two boys on opposite sides of the fence at a Jewish concentration camp. I am only a few chapters into the book--Bruno, the main character, has just moved into their new house outside of the camp--and the characters already seem real to me. Bruno, in his nine-year-old-boy egocentricity; his mother, an unhappy military wife; and his father, a rising officer with close ties to "the Fury", as Bruno calls Hitler.
With background knowledge about the Nazi regime and life in the concentration camps, I realized that the family's newest house servants were prisoners; it will be interesting to see how long it takes for Bruno--and my young readers--to figure this out as well. I'm looking forward to tucking into bed with this book for the next few nights.
It's Monday; what book are you excited about this week?
That new edition looks absolutely incredible.
ReplyDeleteOh Em Gee. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers?! Wow. I am assuming though that there are only a few illustrations?
ReplyDelete