Corgi Hitler's Canary

Tolles Buch, tolle Geschichte

And one with a reasonably happy ending, not bad for a book about the holocaust... Told from a childs view, it gives a good insight into the feelings of the Danes at the time when Germany occupied their country and "cleansed" it of Jews and other "unwanted" groups. Such a happpening we must not forget, and this is perhaps a good way to help younger generations to understand this awful time. I would say it was very suitable for a young person to read...

A most moving read about the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany during the 1939-1945 war. Aimed at children but could easily be read by an adult too.

This is a wonderful historical fiction book.It can be hard to find a good world war 2 book for a fairly young audience if you don't want massive violence.But this book while Not sugar coating things, is appropriate for a middle school and up audience.

Most children who learn about the holocaust, at some point learn about Anne Frank and her diary. Having just finished reading Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig, I feel it would be beneficial to introduce children to this book and let them see another aspect of the Second World War. Toksvig's book is based on her father's reminiscences of growing up in Denmark during the Nazi occupation in WWII. She has, by her own admission, fictionalised the account, but it is based on facts, and is a wonderful portrait of a young boy and his involvement in the Danish resistance. Bamse is about 11 when the Nazis walk into Denmark and take over. They claim that they are protecting the Danes from the British and French. Initially their presence is no more than a nuisance. As time goes by their behaviour becomes more hostile and Bamse and his family become more and more involved with the Danish resistance. The book culminates with the story of how, when the Germans finally decided to round up all the Danish Jews and ship them over to concentration camps, Bamse's family, and hundreds more Danish people, helped to shelter the Jews and aided their escape to safety.What I really liked about this book is that Toksvig has made clear that not all the Germans who occupied Denmark were bad people. Some of them were uncomfortable with their orders and deliberately turned a blind eye to activity they should have reported, just as not all the Danes were heroes of the resistance, and some of them supported the Nazis far more fervently than any German soldier. Toksvig takes great pains to paint an even, fair picture of what went on.This is a beautifully written little book which is utterly absorbing to read and should be much more widely read and known about.