Rose Blanche

by Roberto Innocenti and Christophe Gallaz

Book Overview

A young girl named Rose Blanche watches as the streets of her town fill with German soldiers and tanks. Then, one day, she follows a truck into the woods, where she discovers a terrible secret. This... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152009183
• ISBN13: 9780152009182
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Creative Editions
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.7" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Rose Blanche, you are not alone

Congratulations! You have successfully located the best translation of the book "Rose Blanche" available on the market today. While the British and German translations may change significant portions of this tale around and about, the American version (all thanks to hard work of excellent translators Martha Coventry and Richard Graglia) is true to authors Gallaz and Innocenti's original plot and vision. So well done you! Give yourself a pat on the back and a hanky. You'll need it after you finish reading the book. It's Germany during World War II. As we watch, our little heroine, Rose Blanche, describes the early days of the war. The soldiers are being packed up and shipped away and everyone is cheering them on. Swastikas are plentiful. One day, Rose sees a small boy escape from a van in the middle of the street. The boy is quickly caught and placed within the cramped van once again. Curious, Rose Blanche follows the van to the edge of town and into the forest. There she comes face to face with the children of a concentration camp. After offering them some of her food, the first person narrative abruptly begins to be told in the third person instead. We are told that Rose Blanche continued to bring food to the hungry children. Finally, the citizens of the town flee, wounded soldiers amongst them. Rather than escaping, Rose Blanche makes one last trip to the camp, only to find it empty. A single shot rings out and we see the Communist soldiers filling the now abandoned town. The book ends with, "Rose Blanche's mother waited a long time for her little girl". Flowers bloom, but the single purple bloom the girl placed on the barbed wire has wilted. Tragedy in the key of E. The text is rather well written, giving no specific person or persons blame, but rather suggesting a collective guilt. Admittedly, I was a little taken aback by the sudden switch in narrative. One minute you know exactly what Rose Blanche is thinking and the next you can only interpret her emotions through descriptions and visual images. A review of this book in the March 2004 issue of "Children's Literature in Education" suggested that this is done so that the reader is given a bit of distance when the girl is shot. Admittedly, I don't expect my heroines to die in the picture books I read but I think we can chalk that up to naivete on my part more than anything else. This is, after all, an incredibly realistic work of fiction. The character of Rose Blanche even attains a kind of religious piousness at the end of the tale. In her final picture, she stands in the position of a saint. Her eyes are downcast, one hand lightly touching her heart, and the other placing a small purple flower on the broken fence. Which brings us to the illustrations. Innocenti's pictures deftly tell a story within the actual text. In the first few pictures, Rose appears in happy crowd scenes. Then, as she discovers more about the world in which she lives, she is placed farther and farther away from other p

Virginia SOL on the Holocaust - Moving and sensitive

I was introduced to the holocaust in the 1960s as a military brat on a field trip to Dachau, Germany. I was 12. It gave me nightmares for months. It still affects me at 45. The original site has been cleaned up for tourists now (thank goodness). This book was given to me by a professor in my Reading Class at JMU. It is a very delicate response to a very intensely controvertial issue in world history. It can be treated lightly or on a deeper level for Kindergarten through 3rd grade students. No matter what the emphasis, treat it with great respect..... it has a deep impact on some children. It is a beautifully illustrated version of a very ugly issue of this world's humanity. Read it, but use with great care in a classroom. It's very potent.

What a book!

I was first inroduced to this book by my children's literature professor at the Univeristy of Maine Farmington. She told me it was an excellent book and I totally agree. This is a must read for every literate person. The story moved my entire literature class to tears. What a book. It is a must for EVERY classroom.

an important book for all ages

I was first introduced to this book in 6th grade, by my teacher. I am now a freshman in college, and i'm using it in a presentation about the Holocaust. The fact that this book has stayed in my memory for such a long time should give you an idea about the impact it has on readers. From the perspective of a student, I highly recommend this book to teachers everywhere. Its a book you'll never forget.

Powerful and quietly moving

This beautiful picture book will help make the Holocaust accessible to very young readers. Rose Blanche is a deeply moving story that will affect nearly all who read it. The detailed illustrations are drawn from a perspective that gives the reader a sense of security whilst offering a vivid view of the fate of others not so secure. Because this story is an allegory, it can be appreciated by readers of many ages. On one level, this is simply the story of one girl, Rose Blanche, finding out for herself what is happening to her countrymen and trying to help. On another level, Rose Blanche stands for all who helped the Jews, even though to do so meant certain death for the rescuers. This quiet book inspires courage.