These links show the original reading lists. Inclusion is not a guarantee of suitability for your child.
Judith Kerr - Author
A child’s perspective makes refugee experience, antisemitism and changing countries personal and discussable. Family solidarity and curiosity sit alongside historically grounded accounts of persecution and loss.
Anna’s family and other Jewish people experience insults, exclusion, loss of rights and escalating Nazi persecution.Strongly criticalStrongly critical: the book clearly condemns this theme.Strongly critical: the book clearly condemns this theme.
How the book presents it: The reported treatment presents antisemitism as destructive discrimination, while the family’s dignity and identity remain important.
Talk about: How do the characters respond when prejudice is spoken or enforced, and what forms of resistance or support are available to them?
Refugee life and belonging
Anna’s family leaves Germany and lives in other countries, learning languages and navigating unfamiliar cultural habits.Exploratory / explanatoryExploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.Exploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.
How the book presents it: The story presents displacement through ordinary family life as well as danger, showing adaptation without reducing the experience to a single outcome.
Talk about: If adapting to new countries brings opportunities as well as difficulties, how does Anna’s family handle that tension?
Family loyalty and inner motivation
Parents protect and support the children, while the family values honesty, hard work, generosity and staying together during upheaval.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: Family unity and personal motivation are presented as meaningful resources during difficult circumstances, rather than as substitutes for acknowledging danger.
Talk about: What helps the family retain dignity and connection when possessions, comfort or social acceptance are insecure?
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Why It May Be Worth Reading
It can open thoughtful conversations about prejudice, belonging and displacement. Anna and her brother also encounter languages and cultural habits while rebuilding everyday life.
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What Deserves Attention
Pay particular attention to the concentration-camp account, reports of Nazi violence, antisemitic insults, threats against Anna’s father, and a character’s suicide after marginalisation. These moments may need calm, responsive discussion.
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A Conversation Worth Having
How does Anna’s family respond when circumstances change, and what might the story suggest about preserving dignity when other people define someone by religion or heritage?
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Reading Approach
Read alongside the child rather than treating difficult history as background. Pause after persecution or loss, clarify unfamiliar historical references, and let the child decide what they want to discuss.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Prejudice and antisemitism: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Refugee life and belonging: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Family loyalty and inner motivation: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
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