The Butterfly

Title: The Butterfly
Author: Patricia Polacco
Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Type:  Fiction
Approximate Interest Level: 4th-12th
Publisher: Puffin
Date of Publication: 2009
ISBN: 978-0142413067

Synopsis: Monique lives in a small French village during WWII.  Nazis are occupying the village.  One night she wakes and sees what she thinks is a ghost in her room.  The ghost turns out to be a Jewish child, named Sevrine that is being hidden along with her mother and father by Monique’s family.  The two girls become friends even though Sevrine has been told many times not to leave her hiding place.  One night, a neighbor sees the two girls playing.  The families must rush to find a new hiding place.

Lesson plan link

Possible Teaching Points: 1) World War II, 2) Nazi occupation, 3) the Holocaust

Let the Celebrations Begin!

Title: Let the Celebrations Begin!
Author: Margaret Wild
Illustrator: Julie Vivas
Type:  Fiction
Approximate Interest Level: 4th-12th
Publisher: Orchard Paperbacks
Date of Publication: 1991
ISBN: 978-0531070765

Synopsis: Set in a World War II concentration camp, Miriam and her friends are preparing toys for the party they will have when they are liberated by the soldiers.  Prisoners in the camp donate buttons and other parts of their clothing to make stuffed toys for the children that have no toys.

Possible Teaching Points: 1) World War II, 2) the holocaust, 3) life in the concentration camps