I loved this book. There aren't very many books for young children that deal with World War 2 and the Holocaust and this one was very well done. The main characters are Tilde, a young Jewish girl, and Princess Alice of Greece. In 1943 the Nazis have occupied Greece and proceed to capture and transport Jews to concentration camps. Princess Alice, who was completely deaf but proficient in lip-reading (in three languages!) used her disability to help as many people as she could. In this story, a mother and daughter appeared at her door one night, desperate for help. The princess took them in, giving them a place in the palace. She also warned them to be careful as the Gestapo headquarters was very close. The princess visited her guests every day, but the hiding was hard on young Tilde, who would occasionally break the rules by peeking out of the windows. One day two Gestapo agents came to the door, demanding to search the house. Tilde's fear was intense as she overheard the men's demands, but the princess knew just what to do. I loved her cleverness as she outwitted the men and kept Tilde and her mother safe.
I thought that this was an excellent introduction for younger children to the subject of the Holocaust and the fears of the Jewish people. The tension and facts are there without delving too deeply into the horrors that happened. The illustrations are beautiful, faithfully depicting events in the book. In each one I could clearly see the emotions of the subjects.
Also included in the book are biographical details of Princess Alice, one of the lesser known members of the royal family. She was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and great-grandmother of Princes William and Harry. In her later years she became a nun, funding a convent and orphanage in Athens. After her death the title Righteous Among the Nations was bestowed on her for her work in saving Jews during the Holocaust. While accepting the honor for his mother, Prince Philip said, "I suspect that it never occurred to her that her action was in any way special. She was a person with a deep religious faith, and she would have considered it to be a perfectly natural human reaction to fellow beings in distress."
I thought that this was an excellent introduction for younger children to the subject of the Holocaust and the fears of the Jewish people. The tension and facts are there without delving too deeply into the horrors that happened. The illustrations are beautiful, faithfully depicting events in the book. In each one I could clearly see the emotions of the subjects.
Also included in the book are biographical details of Princess Alice, one of the lesser known members of the royal family. She was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and great-grandmother of Princes William and Harry. In her later years she became a nun, funding a convent and orphanage in Athens. After her death the title Righteous Among the Nations was bestowed on her for her work in saving Jews during the Holocaust. While accepting the honor for his mother, Prince Philip said, "I suspect that it never occurred to her that her action was in any way special. She was a person with a deep religious faith, and she would have considered it to be a perfectly natural human reaction to fellow beings in distress."
