For Tyndale’s Summer Reading Challenge, they had quite a few books in the Imagination Station series, and I reviewed one of them already, which I absolutely LOVED, despite it being set in Ancient Rome! Once I found out they had a WWII themed book and it was on Amazon for less than $5, of course I bought it!
In this book aimed at first-third graders, cousins Patrick and Beth travel back to WWII Holland and join the Dutch Resistance, and ultimately smuggle a Jewish baby to Corrie ten Boom’s house. I did enjoy this book, but unfortunately not as much as I thought I would. I found certain parts unrealistic (and I thought of work-able, age-appropriate alternatives). Some parts I thought could have been better researched, but I was able to forgive this, mostly because I understand the authors are just authors, not historians. I also don’t think it’s quite for 7+, but perhaps a slightly more mature age group. Then, there is the implied historical inaccuracy in most Corrie ten Boom stories, but that’s just a pet peeve of mine.
Although there are many other Holocaust chapter books, specifically right off my head Twenty and Ten for the first-third grade age and Number the Stars that I prefer better, this book wasn’t horrible by any means, and I’m really proud of them for even tackling this subject for a young audience range and overall, recommend the series. It truly is a fantastic Christian series that introduces young kids to history. (I’m quite passionate about WWII and somewhat picky about it! That’s just me and my issues lol)
I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series and would encourage you to do the same!
11 WWII Picture Books
We’ve got the Roman book, the kids seem to be rather indifferent on this series, while I think they’re pretty good. Of course they never liked Magic Treehouse either, which this series seems to be in contrast to.