The Once Series 6 Books Set Pack by Morris Gleitzman

by Morris Gleitzman

Once Once by Morris Gleitzman is the story of a young Jewish boy who is determined to escape the orphanage he lives in to save his Jewish parents from the Nazis in the occupied Poland of the Second World War. Then In Then - Morris Gleitzman's heartbreaking children's novel set during the Nazi occupation of Poland during the Second World War - Jewish orphan Felix and his best friend Zelda have been captured and are on the way to a concentration camp, unless they manage to escape . Now Now is the third shocking, funny and heartbreaking book in Morris Gleitzman's Second World War series. Sometimes facing the past is the bravest act of all... ONCE I didn't know about my grandfather Felix's scary childhood. After After is the fourth shocking, funny and heartbreaking book in Morris Gleitzman's Second World War series. After The Nazis took my parents I was scared After They killed my best friend I was angry After They ruined my thirteenth birthday I was determined to get to the forest, to join forces with Gabriek and Yuli, to be a family, to defeat the Nazis after all Haunting . . . dangerous and desperate, but also full of courage and hope' Soon The Second World War has officially ended, but the streets are still a battleground - for food, for shelter, for protection . . . Felix is in hiding to stay safe, but finds he has been left holding the baby - literally. An orphaned infant has been left in his care and he will do everything he can to protect the child, in the way a few incredible people did for him during the Holocaust. This powerfully moving addition to Morris Gleitzman's bestselling series about Felix and Zelda takes place in 1945, following the story told in After. This intensely affecting story will move readers of all ages.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War, Historical

Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Morris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.

Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.

Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.

He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.

But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.

All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.

Reviews

[charmaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked all the books, but my favourite was After because you could really see Felix's character development throughout the books, and see how he cared about his friends.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome, I wish I could read these books for the first time again

[Jane Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books absolutely shattered me. I would re-read them any day. The series is about a Jewish boy called Felix who is an orphan. Basically just follows him and how he survived the Nazi Poland invasion. If you haven’t read these books yet go and read them you’ll feel every emotion whilst reading. Genuinely terrific.

[Charlene Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed reading this series of books to my youngest son. Gleitzman has a knack for capturing the wonderfully unique voice of the young. This man is obviously one who never forgot what it was to be a child and see through that strange, but honest, lens. I highly recommend these books to anyone who has a child that loves historical fiction.

[Aimelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite books of all times, this made me interested in reading and I cannot thank Morris Gleitzman enough!

[Jaydi Waydi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming and sad book about the reality of war.

[Hatty Keates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking. Emotive.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone shoot me, I wanted nothing but happiness for this boy. WHY IS THERE CHILD PREGNANCY

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series (listened to 4 as audio books and read two aloud) with my daughter who just turned ten. My father was born in Poland one month after the war finished, to a jewish father and polish mother, and they came to Australia when he was three. I went to Poland for the first time last year with my daughter, and I wanted her to grow up knowing her roots and ancestry. This series has been an excellent way to do that. It includes scenes in ghettos, concentration camps, hiding in ignorance. It includes the complex politics of different factions, and the various responses of Polish people, some who are very anti-semitic, some risk their lives to help Jews. it also includes some investigation of the horrific experiments conducted on live humans by the Nazis, and how some Nazis hid and escaped afterwards. It doesn’t water down the horrors to make it palatable but unrealistic to a young audience. Horrific things happen, and are written in a way which is emotionally engaging - you feel the sadness when people die, and they are remembered long afterwards. This is done in a way which this age group can manage though. My daughter is very sensitive and she hasn’t had any nightmares. Major congratulations to Morris Gleitzman for this achievement.
Another reviewer points out that the books always refer to Nazis and not Germans. I noticed this too, however other armies and partisans are also referred to specifically eg. Polish nationalists, so I think this is accurate and avoids young twenty first century readers forming negative views of present day Germany. However, I did find the post-war politics hard to follow and mis-leading. It was not clear that Poland was handed over to the Soviets. However it was very clear that the end of the war was by no means the end of problems or violence, which was good I thought.
As the grand-daughter of a holocaust survivor myself, I found the third book, where Felix is now a grandfather, quite moving. Some parts were very true - living in the shadow of such survival and achievement it can make you hard on yourself when you find your own very easy life challenging. Felix has some PTSD reactions which I saw in my grandfather. It is great to see these written about in a kids book. It contains a lot of things I had to work out myself. However, it was also very hard to read because the relationship between Felix and his granddaughter is so idealised. In reality, many war survivors struggle with big mood swings, and anger. I don’t think it is uncommon that they are not soft, close, warm grandparents. Grandchildren have to learn how to deal with this. It’s not anyone’s fault - you need to learn not to blame yourself, and not to blame them. I learnt how this was a consequence of war as a child growing up, and I have heard Vietnamese refugee children say similar things. I wonder how I would have felt reading about this wonderful relationship when I was younger. If only life was that fair, that kind.
I found the sixth book ‘Maybe’ by far my least favourite. I found a couple of the major plot points very unrealistic, while prior to that in the other books I hadn’t had that issue. I won’t spoil it by giving away plot details. It does include some realistic accounts of what happened in children’s homes and orphanages in Australia at that time, which is good. If you are reading the ‘family’ of books it is still worth reading. But I was really disappointed. to be fair, my daughter liked it.
I hope the final book includes something about the Nuremberg trials. I’d love to see some mention of how gypsies, LGBTIQ people and disabled people were treated also, although I wouldn’t want a good story and characters distorted by trying to fit too much in.

[Lucy A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautiful series I have every read and truly one of the only ones I've cried because of. The writing is quite simple since it is written from a child's perspective. The books consist of adventure, heartbreak, friendship, and of course, include stories inspired by the real - life experiences of some holocaust victims. The author made a great balance between the tragedies that occur and humorous and heartwarming moments. One of my favorites.

[Afrodite Petridou · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are AMAZING ! I have read these books so many times . Each book follows a boy named Felix and his story through life . They have so much action packed in them but are explained so well . I have cried many times because they are so emotinal ,while being interesting and exciting . A few characters die but that makes everthing so much more capturing and luring . Each book ends on a cliff hanger which forces you to read the next fabulous book there are soo many too!!

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Amazing ! Fully captures how scary it would of been during ww2 whilst being Jewish but does it in a child friendly way. However I found I did not like Now as much as the others, I think this is mainly because it's a number of years after the war but overall all the books where super.

[Clare Kavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this series. It shows a different perspective of ww2 and how it affected people.

Some parts can be a bit gorey, but it's really worth the read if you are into World War 2 or War stories.

[Saffron Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all of the books especially 'then' because it was very exciting but also very sad, Maybe was also pretty good

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very gud

[Simiona Tamaressis · Rating 4 out of 5]

provides a very real perspective of wwII. The novels are written with care and consideration, the text flows freely and tells a beautiful story.

[Andie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such great books! Absolutely wonderful

[Wiixks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. It made me cry which is pretty rare for me but this review seriously does not give the series any justice. Felix deserved more 😭

[Khalid Mahamoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best literature I've experienced.

[Heather Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books will always have a place in my heart. I read them in school and they have shaped how I write my own characters.

[Qibli the Sandwing · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best book series i have ever read 10/10 for compelling story line and tragic retelling of the holocaust. R.I.P Zelda

[May <3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

i cried.

[Mackenzie Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love

[Alice]

The hold these books have over 12 year olds NEEDS to be studied.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was absolutely amazing, the storyline is so good and i would 100% read this series again.

[Courtney Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many twists and so emotional been reading these aince I was a kid honestly amazing and so suspenseful

[king p · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite series of all time!

[Book Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

slay

[zk3al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once was introduced to me in my 5th Grade Class and it was the first book, now that I think of it, that I really fell in love with.
My teacher read it to us and all I wanted to do was go home and read the rest of the books. And so I did.
Thankfully because my friend had bought the series of it.
I would love to and am eventually going to re read the series because I was young when I did read them although I remember how emotionally attached I was to the books.
The series was heart shattering yet I loved it so much.

Beautiful reads.

[Cheynee · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this series when i was in primary school and loved them, they are really interesting but also educational, definitely recommend :)