Pistes d'exploration

As you read, maintain a timeline of Hana’s life, pinpointing significant events.

Enlarge and display the photo of Hana and her brother on page 27. Use sticky notes to write what you wish you could say to them.

Write a letter to Hana’s brother, George Brady, or to Fumiko, explaining how Hana’s story affected you. What would you ask or tell Hana if you could? Explain why you think her story is important for the world.

Read about and discuss other children who were affected by the Holocaust (see companion books). What do they have in common? What sets each one apart?

Contact the Montréal Holocaust Museum for learning materials related to this book. In small groups, research aspects of the Holocaust and share with your peers.

As you read, maintain a timeline of Hana’s life, pinpointing significant events.

On a map, follow Hana, George and Fumiko’s journey. Label the places with dates and significant events.

Hana’s life was very rich before 1939. Using a Venn diagram, compare her activities and lifestyle with your own.

With reference to books on children

Research and discuss contemporary situations in which people are denied basic rights. How are they similar and different from what Hana endured? 

Two narratives alternate to weave this story of loss and remembrance. Read the first sections together to get a sense of these different threads.

Historical distance, a position of detached observation made possible by the passage of time, is considered essential to modern historical practice. In a small group, discuss how this concept can be applied to Hana’s story.

Use a production process to create a multimodal presentation on the story for a younger audience.

Listen to the author’s radio documentary. Discuss your understanding of the story prior to reading.

On a class map, locate the places mentioned.

As you read, build parallel timelines: one marking the events of Hana and George’s story, and one showing the events of Fumiko’s search.

Make your own creative scrapbook biography using pictures or drawings and notes to tell your story. Imagine it is found by an archaeologist, sometime in the future. Write their comments on finding such a valuable item.

I Have the Right to Be a Child, We Are All Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures, TheHarmonica

Mots-clés

Biography , children and war , concentration camps , Holocaust , illustrations (photographs) , Jewish history , World War II

Commentaire descriptif

This readable, lengthy book interweaves two stories. One focuses on Hana, a sporty little Jewish girl, who loses her parents and brother, and finally her own life, to the Nazis. The other story relates the quest of Fumiko, director of the Holocaust Education Resource Center in Tokyo, and some visiting schoolchildren, and how they learn about the girl who owned a small battered suitcase. The language explains complex material in simple terms: “How, Fumiko wondered, could she help Japanese children understand the terrible story of what happened to millions of Jewish children … over fifty years ago?” Painful subjects are addressed in a truthful yet child-conscious manner: “Hana soon learned that old people in Theresienstadt were given the smallest and worst rations … often crawling with bugs.” The book is illustrated with photos related to both storylines, including drawings made by Hana in the concentration camp, and by the children in Tokyo. Both stories contain uplifting moments of humanity. They finally converge with the discovery of Hana’s surviving brother (living in Toronto, Canada), and his visit to the children in Tokyo: “George realized that in the end, one of Hana’s wishes had come true. Hana had become a teacher … her suitcase and her story.”