HANA'S SUITCASE by Karen Levine

earlier this week, at bedtime, my kids and i were reading The Sneetches by Dr Seuss. we love that story. i like to use his stories to talk with the kids about lessons we can learn. based on The Sneetches, we discussed (at the levels of a 4.5-year old and 7-year-old) intolerance, discrimation, and then redemption and restoration.

the next day, i was listening to the radio, and they were discussing this book, and i was so captivated by the story that i ran out and bought it. i decided to read it to my children.

but first, i had to read it myself. (i needed to make sure it was suitable for young kids.) and i'm telling you, i bawled.

Hana was a young Czech girl who was sent to Terezin, and then Auschwitz, during the Holocaust. sadly, she did not survive.

but in March 2000, her suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education centre in Tokyo. on the outside of the suitcase, in white paint, was written, Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (german for orphan).

this book tells the remarkable story of Hana and her experiences during the Holocaust in Nazi concentration camps, and of a young woman in Japan who was determined to learn everything she could about Hana, so that people could learn about the children's experiences during the Holocaust.

this book is heartbreaking, but also full of hope. i bawled, but not necessarily sad tears. it's said that those who don't know the past are doomed to repeat it, and i want my children to understand that this horrible part of human history CANNOT be repeated.

i highly recommend, but probably not for bedtime reading. stick to dr seuss for that. ;)


to order:
http://www.amazon.ca/Hanas-Suitcase-Karen-Levine/dp/189676455X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257566194&sr=1-2