What Was the Holocaust?

My almost 8 year old asked me for a book on the Holocaust and I ordered him this one. I skimmed through it and was satisfied to see that there wasn't anything inappropriate or gory. He read it quickly. It gives a good basic overview or what led up to the war, the Holocaust, and the aftermath, and it includes a nice amount of pictures.

This is such a difficult topic to discuss with children and I found this book to be extremely helpful. It also sparked a big interest in World War II with them and they keep relating information they learned from this book to new information they are learning. I really felt that this book was an age appropriate book and introduction into such a large topic for my kids.

My daughter and I love to read together at bedtime still, and now that she is older the books she is interested in have more complex topics. This book was a natural next option after she read the Who Was Anne Frank book. This book about the Holocaust presents the facts of what happened to the Jewish people and others not in Nazi favor in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. While there was plenty left out in what many victims endured and suffered at the hands of the Nazi's, the cruel facts of the genocide are not sugar coated while being presented in a very age appropriate way. Photos that are included do not show the worst of the worst, but definitely depict the suffering and cruelty. If I am making this sound terrible, it's because the Holocaust is terrible. The book does an excellent job of telling the story and introducing this time in our history for kids aged 9-12. Like many in the Who Was/Is series it is a great launching pad to begin learning more about an important historical time.

A good, honest explanation of the Holocaust. My 7 year old learned a lot from it. I thought the caricature-style “large headed” drawings of the prisoners on the front was a little off-putting and seems odd, though. I know that’s how all the illustrations in this series are drawn, but for this particular book, it almost seems inappropriate for them to be drawn in a goofy way.

I was impressed by the way the authors tackled this sensitive topic. It is still not an easy read, so I would not recommend this to kids under 4-5th grade (especially since the school curriculum does not touch on this topic or this war at all, so it’s quite a leap for them to try and grasp the enormity of the war and horrendous consequences). It is engaging and will provoke some deep conversations, so I suggest parents read it first and prepare for questions that will follow.

My 8 year old loves these books so much, we’ve worked most of our homeschooling around them. It’s very common for boys to be more interested in non-fiction titles so I’m very happy to have these books for him. They are a very quick read so he averages two a day but he’s also a bookworm. We have our own little library of this series at home and can’t wait for more titles!

my 10 year old read this and was ok but for a young child this book could be traumatizing. I suggest this for mature kids who realize this is history and we learn it so it doesn't repeat itself.

Great, kid-friendly account of this historical series of events in our modern time, which seems like a paradox when you say it. However, it was told in a way that kids can understand, learn and empathize.

This book tells us of the impact of Hitler and the rise of anti Jewish movements in Germany and then in other countries that were captured by the Nazi army. About 12 million died in the Nazi concentration camps and about half were Jews. Later the books describes some of the people who escaped and then some who were tried after the war for the crimes and the deaths. The book reminds us of the need to avoid the massive killing of people which can still happen around the world. It remains a wonderful account of the issues of the Nazi era and what might follow it.

Educational

Cannot recommend the books from this author enough. My 9 year old son who isn’t a great reader sits and reads then and it’s written in a child friendly way and he’s learnt so much! Highly recommend buying a few of the books if your child shows an interest in something!

Un libro muy bien escrito, explica bien el tema, debería ser de lectura obligatoria

Good for kids.