old post from book talk

Karen Johnson
10/20/08
Section 2
Innocenti, Roberto. Rose Blanche. Creative Edition Inc, MI, 1985.
Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti is an unusual children’s picture book that describes World War 2 through a child’s eyes. Rose Blanche is Hitler’s idea of a perfect child, blond and blue eyed. She is filled with curiosity and does not understand what is going on. She stumbles upon a concentration camp and her childlike innocence takes over. She brings the children in the concentration camp food until the war is over. Roberto Innocenti had quite a story that inspired him to write Rose Blanche. He states in the book that he named it Rose Blanche after a group of German citizens that protested the war and were all killed. Roberto himself hid German soldiers that gave up to the Allies and saw roundups. This historical fiction goes right along with what really happened in World War 2. There are a few things off like the concentration camps. It is highly unlikely that a child could get that close to the people in the concentration camps, also the abundance of food she gives them and how she gives them food. The pictures in this book are amazing and full of detail. They cover most of the page and allow the reader to see through Rose’s eyes how the war looked. It looks very realistic and Roberto did an amazing job. Overall this book is great and the illustrations are wonderful. It is a great book to teach young children about history.