Number The Stars (Lois Lowry)

One of the great things about having to taxi kids around to classes and sports and church activities and play dates (and whatever else!) is it provides great time for sitting and reading. I sometimes run around like a crazy woman trying to get a bunch of errands accomplished - and sometimes I just park outside the door of where they are and sit in my van and read.

Today I read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It was a great read! It is set in Denmark. Since my dad's side of the family is Danish, that got me interested right away. I loved reading the names of places and the names of the people. I'm not an expert on Denmark - but I'm familiar enough that I could tell it was pretty authentic. The story is really heartbreaking. It's set in the 1940's when the Nazi's were occupying Denmark. This book is about a family that is friends with a Jewish family and they help them escape to Sweden. (I need to find out why Sweden was such a safe haven. It said in the story that everyone was confident that Sweden would not be taken over by the Nazi's) It's heartwarming and emotional for me to hear stories of people from that time. This particular story is not exactly a true story - but it's based on stories of people from that time. I would totally recommend the book!

.....I just need to find out why the title is Number the Stars....that's one part that I'm still confused about....

I'd also like to find out more about when Tivoli Gardens was re-built. It says in the book that the Nazi's destroyed it by fire.

We read this book for Jill's book club. Jill enjoyed reading it and even sent an email to the author when she found her email address on-line. Even more exciting for her was the fact tha the author wrote back!

Here's Jill's email:

i started to raed number the stars for a book club. thank goodness for book club! if it wasnt for book club i would have never read number the stars. that would be tragic it is a wonderufl book and i told my grandma and pap of your books. i just can't stop reading number the stars. it is awesome. i also raed 1 goony bird book. it was really funny

ttfn (tata for now)

Jill

And Lois Lowry's quick reply said:

Hi there, Jill,

I loved getting your message and hearing that you enjoyed my books. Thank you.

Number the Stars is a wonderful story that I wanted to tell the children of the United States and now it is used in countries all over the world. As for Gooney Bird...she is a very popular character and in September there will be a fourth book about her.

Keep reading!

Lois Lowry

Jill was amazed to find out about the Nazi's and the Jewish genocide. It's quite a thing to talk to her about those things and see her shock that people would do that to each other. Sad. Very sad that that is the reality of the world. Number the Stars didn't focus on that though. It focused on the heroic actions of people who helped others. It's a wonderful story.