I bought this book by Michael Rosen myself and have not been asked to review it. This post does however contain affiliate links. Thank you for taking the time to read and click if you wish.
We are big fans of Michael Rosen, what childhood would be complete without ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt?’ The kids current favourite is ‘No Breathing in Class’ and whenever I’m being strict with them I’ll tell them ‘no breathing’ just so they know I mean business. Or rather it makes them laugh and they actually listen to me.
The Missing – The True Story of my Family in World War II
Author: Michael Rosen, available from Waterstones for £8.99 in hardback.
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781406386752
Number of pages: 128
Weight: 189 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 9 mm
The Blurb
When I was growing up, stories often hung in the air about my great -uncles: they were there before the war, my Dad would say, but werent after.
That never used to make any sense to me…How could people just disappear? People with whole lives? People with families? So, over many years, I tried to find out exactly what happened. This book is the result: the true story of the missing Rosens.
Our Verdict
This book was written for children but holds a strong message for anyone. Both me and Star read it in one sitting it was so intriguing. Interspersed with Rosen’s poetry it shows how he searched for his missing relatives and the stories he found.
We don’t really think about the horror of the holocaust. It was something that happened, it was horrid, we wont let it happen again. Hopefully. Well, it’s actually happening now to some extent but as always we never know the real truth, the real horror of it all.
When it is something that happened to your own relatives it brings even more horror and sadness. Michael Rosen fully understands how lucky he is to be born shortly after the war rather than during it.
Here is a note from Michael Rosen on the first page.
This story is about the things that happened to my family a long time ago, back when photos and films where in black and white. But when I think about it, my relatives were refugees – a lot like the people you may have seen on the news recently.
Because of the events of the Second World War, they were forced to run:to flee and hide. When I turn on the TV now, eighty years later, I see thousands of families that have been forced to run from new wars, driven into hiding and sometimes losing their lives.
So I hope this book becomes part of a bigger conversations about the refugee crisis. About how to find fair and decent ways of helping people like my relatives
michael Rosen
A riveting and very sad story. One I would definitely recommend. We can’t keep our eyes closed forever.
