Module 10 - Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti

Book cover image:


Book Summary:
This story follows a naive German school girl as she experiences the time during WWII, but is unaware of the implications. She lives a normal life with normal struggles until her curiosity leads her to discover what struggling really is.

APA Reference of Book:
Innocenti, R., & McEwan, I. (1985). Rose Blanche. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.

Impressions: I am not much for historical fiction, but this book really drew me in. The art was realistic as well which is good for a historical fiction story. I really saw the truth in this story, how children who were not directly involved in the war may not notice what is happening around them. Parents choose to keep their children innocent if possible. Her curiosity led her to find a camp and she gave children her food. I think it is interesting the shift of perspective halfway through the book. At first Rose Blanche is talking in first person but then it becomes third person after she first saw the people at the camp. Maybe it is because of the end of the story so we could see a slightly different perspective, but if I were to look at it deeper, Rose Blanche began caring less about her problems and life, and more about what she could do for those who were suffering. The end of the book left me sad for the little girl, and I don't know what the authors intention was there. She came on the desolate camp, destroyed and no more people, and that was a sad picture in itself. But when the realization came that she was going to die, I felt even sadder, I wonder what makes the feeling of following this one character who dies compared to all of the people who died in the camp stronger. Maybe because I was able to see her heart and her personality, while those in the camp we did not get to know.

Professional Review:

"Rose Blanche (Book)
Roberto Innocenti, Author-Illustrator
32 pp. Stewart, Tabori & Chang ISBN 1-55670-207-8 15.95 (Younger,
 Intermediate)

This powerful, disturbing, and unforgettable book is based on the artist's experiences during World War II. A little girl who has been drawn by curiosity to follow the trucks and tanks rumbling through her small German town finds children standing behind a barbed wire fence and begins to bring them food. Although she is finally killed by soldiers, the book's final image of a springtime landscape suggests the promise of resurrection and hope."

[Review of the book Rose Blanche, by I. Roberto]. (1991). Horn Book magazine, 67(3), 362. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

 
Library Uses: During a holocaust remembrance day this book would be good to start with. I think they can relate to the innocence of the girl and may start with an understanding. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is also a good one for this subject. It does not detail the gruesome story of the holocaust, but can be used as an introduction to this portion of history.