The Butterfly and Rose Blanche

I stumbled across these books yesterday kind of on accident, but I am so thankful I did. The idea of a picture book about the Holocaust is disturbing and intriguing, and both books detail the events of this tragic time in the world's history from extremely different perspectives and with painfully different conclusions.

The Butterfly, by Patricia Polacco

In this story, Monique lives in war-torn France. Nazis are everywhere and the young girl fears the violence and oppression of the men in the "tall boots." She wakes up one night and sees a girl, who she assumes is a ghost, sitting on the end of her bed. As the story progresses, she sees this girl more and more, and eventually is able to speak to her one night before the "ghost" disappears. The girl describes that she is actually a Jew living in hiding with her family in the basement of Monique's house. Monique and the girl form a friendship throughout the rest of the story, until a neighbor sees them playing through a window and Monique's mother is forced to help the girl's family relocate to a new safe house.

The Butterfly is a very interesting story describing a point of view that we are familiar with in regards to World War II, but from a somewhat new angle. To look at a country occupied by the Nazis through a child's eyes is intriguing, as well as to see her come to terms with the concept of hiding Jews in her home in order to keep them safe. The progression of the plot is endearing and engaging: you easily become afraid for the characters as they are forced to relocate and as they attempt to avoid being captured by the Nazis. The ending is sweet, though, and encouraging; both you and the characters are left with a feeling of hope that everyone is safe. It's a great book with a sweet story and an interesting twist on a history we are commonly familiar with in regards to World War II.

Rose Blanche, by Roberto Innocenti

Rose Blanche is a young girl living in Germany during World War II who has an up-close and personal perspective to the actions of the Nazis. The beginning of the book details several encounters with Nazi soldiers in which Rose views trucks and trains transporting soldiers and machinery off to war, but several strange things that she accidentally witnesses in the middle of the story cause her to question and wonder what she has seen. After a moment of curiosity getting the better of her, Rose follows a truck deep into the woods where she discovers a concentration camp. Throughout the rest of the book, the young girl returns to the camp in order to slip food to the prisoners through the fence until a surprising and heartwrenching conclusion changes everything.

This book broke my heart. I won't spoil the ending more than just to say that in stark contrast to The Butterfly, it does not end hopeful or happy. If you are searching for a short picture book with beautiful illustrations and an emotional response from your audience, this is an excellent source. What I also love about it is that an entirely different perspective is offered than what might be considered common or usual; Rose is a German girl who is entirely unaware of what her country's leaders and soldiers are doing. These actions that we as modern Americans are so used to and so aware of was not broadcasted on newspaper headlines and shouted about throughout the streets during the war itself in Germany. We take for granted that knowledge about concentration camps and the hideous civilian death tolls was widespread, but it really wasn't. Because of that, this story paired with the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - or scenes from it, perhaps - could be an interesting teaching tool. When collecting books about World War II or about war in general, this would be an excellent tool for varied perspectives, as well as varied responses and results.