Author: Brenda Ralph Lewis
Title: The Story of Anne Frank
Illustrator: Brenda Ralph Lewis
Publisher: Dorling kindersley
Year: 2001
Genre: Biography
Format: Hardcover
Reading Level: Self-extending
Interest Level: Late Elementary- middle school- high school
Topics: Jews, Adolf Hitler, Holocaust,Diary of Anne Frank
Summary: This book is a biography about the one and only, Anne Frank. The famous Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in Germany. She had a mother, father, and a sister named Margot. In this book there are real pictures of Anne and her family, so anyone who reads has an idea of what they looked like. Some pictures are drawn though, but in very great detail and bright colors to catch readers attention. Anne's life was normal for some time, but when Adolf Hitler became the ruler of Germany things changed for Anne and her family. Hitler believed Jews were bad and wanted to catch them and send them to camps to work forever. Hitler blamed the Jew for the problems that Germany was experiencing. Otto, Anne's father moved his family to the Netherlands to try to keep them safe because they were Jewish themselves. After some time they moved again to a building called Prinsngracht. New laws were introduced forbidding the Jews to do anything. The S.S were the Nazi Political Police and they were after any Jews. People, especially the Jews were terrified of the S.S. Otto moved his family in an annex in the Prinsngracht. They were to hide there from the S.S. They ended up hiding out there for two years when they were finally discovered. The police took Anne and her family to a concentration camp. They did not want much that was left in the annex where the family hid, not even Anne's diary. Anne wrote in her diary every day while the family was in hiding, she had to leave her diary behind. In the camps, Anne and her sister were separated from their parents. Anne's mother died, along with Anne and her sister Margot. The only one who lived through everything was Anne's father Otto. He lived to tell the family's story and retrieve Anne's Diary. Anne's diary is a very important part of history today and because of her diary, books like this can be written so people are more knowledgeable of what happened in the world before their time.
Extension Activity: Have children create their very own diary. Supply kids with paper, markers, fabric, glue, hole punchers, and yarn. Have kids make a cover for their diary. Their diary would consist of at least 7 pages. The kids would be assigned to write in their diary every day for a whole week, or 7 days. The should write everything they do and they times they do it, just like Anne frank did with her diary. The diary would not be shared with class, only the teacher would read it. The kids would know this ahead of time so they would not feel embarrassed about anything they wrote.
