Anne Frank

Famous People Famous Lives

by Harriet Castor

This series features entertaining stories of real famous lives and great events in a picture book format. Written by successful authors, the books include colour illustrations which add a touch of humour and help pace reading.

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Harriet Castor was just thirteen when the first of her Fat Puss novels was published. She went on to become a children's book editor and now writes full time for both children and adults. A real ballet enthusiast, she is the author of the popular Ballerinas series.

Reviews

[Kirsty Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the life of Anne Frank: how she came to write the diary and what happened to her during the Second World War. I enjoyed the book as I myself hadn’t known much about Anne Frank beforehand. It was informative while keeping the language simple for children to understand and become absorbed in the story, perhaps putting themselves in her shoes.
I would only use this book for upper KS2, perhaps when they are learning about WW2 in year 6. I would not read it to them myself, but suggest they read the book themselves so they can become more empathetic to the victims of the war. It could be an opening to the actual diary of Anne Frank; something the children may want to research themselves. It could inspire them to ask their own questions; to make their own investigations into what life was like during those times for all involved. It could be used as a literary tool; getting them to write their own diaries as if they too were in the annex or anywhere else such as the concentration camps. It could also be used as an in for drama; getting them to act out what happened in that time. Factual books are very useful in doing cross curricular activities and getting the children to really see the world from other people’s point of view.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a little girl named Anne Frank during the take over of Germany by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi's in World War II. Anne Frank was given a diary for her 13th birthday and went on to write about her feelings, experiences and thoughts as she remained in hiding for two years whilst the Nazi's ruled Germany.

This is an extremely well written book, the language is structured well and appropriate for young children. This book would be used as a cross curricular read as it can be linked with RE, Geography and History alike. Although it is aimed a young children, I would read this book with higher KS 2 children as I feel it may be too in depth for KS1, as it is a very informative book. The reading of this book can help open up the conversation about discrimination, how people should be treated and how the children felt when they heard the story. It can also be used to open up children minds to writing diary entries, and what it would be like to look back on events in their lives.

Overall this is a very useful book for KS2 and I will definitely be using it in my classroom.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my history lesson at uni and I think it is a really good quick and simple way of getting to know the story of Anne Frank. The language is simplistic as is the story, therefore I'd recommend it for a year 2 or year 3 class. The story does not delve into the reasons why Hitler persecuted the Jewish population. The book featured illustrations that could be used to aid children's understanding and interpretation of the text. This book is an ideal starting place for children to understand the story of Anne Frank. However, the absence of direct quotes as well as minimal description of her feelings etc results it in being a little bland and boring. I'd have this book in my classroom as it is an ideal starting place for developing an interest in history.

[Roisin Donnelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Frank is a young girl who discovered she loved to write when she is given a diary for her 13th Birthday. When Anne and her family are forced into hiding during World War II, Anne takes to her diary to describe the events and how she felt as a young girl during a horrific time.
The book is illustrated and written to suit children at their level as Anne is just a young girl herself and she speaks of how she was sad that she could not go outside and play and she felt isolated and alone. This would be the typical feelings for any child her age to be locked away from the world, and young children could relate to this.
It explains some of the history about Hitler and the pain that he caused so many. For this reason, I would recommend it for children of Key Stage 2 level, as some of the events described may not be appropriate for younger children’s understanding.

It is also involves cross-curricular learning as it combines history, geography and religion, explaining to children where Anne lived, the different religions and why Hitler was looking for Anne and her family.
The illustrations were very appropriate as they are just drawings, they are not colourful and vibrant as it is a serious book and should not be made to be a fun story as it has a very sad ending. However having the illustrations does make the reading more appealing for the children to want to read.

It may also inspire children to want to read and write more, or inspire those who already enjoy writing and feel they are good at it to one day become a writer and have their work published like Anne.

Overall, I really enjoyed Anne Frank and look forward to reading more of the collection. I have not yet read her diary, but having read this book it has persuaded me further to do so.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is about a young girl called Anne, she and her family live in Germany and are Jewish. Germany was taken over by Adolf Hitler and his followers the Nazi's. Hitler despised Jewish people and made life very difficult for them. As a result Anne and her family were forced to go into hiding in a office building behind a bookshelf. On her 13th birthday she was given a diary and from then on anne would write down her thoughts, opinions and experiences. I enjoyed this book as it brings with it plenty of cross curricular links and activity opportunities to history, r.e and geography.
This book is very informative and children have an opportunity to explore and gain an understanding of discrimination and the types of suffering that took place all those years ago. I feel this book is more appealing to children as this is a diary of a young girl and her experiences instead of an adult.
This book could lead onto a number of activities such as the children themselves creating and writing a diary of their own. Discussions also could take place with the children in relation to their own feelings and how they would feel if they were discriminated against or as anne expressedfor exmaple, was not ever able to play outside and had to be quite all the time encase there hiding place would be discovered.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first-reader introduction to the life of Anne Frank and her famous diary. The text works well with cartoon-like illustrations to help readers understand a little of what Anne went through. Reviewed for www.GoodReadingGuide.com