Hitler’s Canary by Sandi Toksvig, © 2005; Roaring Book Press, New York; ISBN: 9781250-076274; 183 pages plus author’s note and discussion questions; $12.99.
By Cailin Acosta in La Mesa, California
The year was 1940, and the Germans were starting to invade Denmark, and 10-year-old Bamse was just as confused as all the other Danes.
Bamse is Danish for Teddy. Bamse’s older brother, Orlando, becomes involved in the resistance and eventually goes to jail. As he was in the hospital, Bamse brought him clothes, and he escaped.
Bamse’s upstairs neighbors are Jewish, and they both try to do their own pranks to upset some of the younger German soldiers by following them on their bikes and distracting them at a bar, as Orlando steals one of their pistols out of their jacket pocket.
As the Nazi’s become more present on the streets, Bamse and his Jewish neighbor and friend Anton change the family names on all the residences’ doorbells to protect those living there.
Bamse’s mother is a theatrical actress, and as the Nazi’s were coming close to their residence, she cut her leg and lay in bed to appear sick and almost dying. Behind a painted sheet to look like a wall were hidden Anton’s family and two other families. The theatrics worked, and the Nazi’s apologized for disturbing the residence and wished her a full recovery.
With Orlando out of jail, he helped organize boats to get to Sweden, where they would be safe and out of Denmark.
According to the Author’s note, Toksvig tells of her grandmother’s acting career and her family’s involvement in the resistance. She once asked her father why the family had taken the chance of hiding Jews in their apartment, and he told her, “Because it was the right thing to do”.
This book is written for young adults aged 10 to 14. I enjoyed reading the heroic efforts of both Bamse and Anton and was sad when Bamse put them on the boat to Sweden, and the uncertainty during that time. Doing the right thing, since all around you is wrong, is a lesson we would do well to remember.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of San Diego Jewish World