I was a little surprised and saddened when I discovered my 11 year old daughter had no knowledge at all of the Holocaust.
So I got onto Fishpond and looked for books which I could include in my education for her.
I found this book and it was our nightly reading material and along with other books and movies she became interested and educated in the subject.
However, this book gave us a lot more than an education.
It is written from a (very) innocent child's perspective and there is child like beauty in this. The subtle story-line gets to the heart of Nazi Germany- showing the intolerence of persecution, yet all the while depicting how an innocent friendship can cross the divides apparent, both physical and racial.
Yet, for a little book that seemed to me predicatable enough, it completely surprised us both. By the end of the story we were left thinking "wow, didn't see that coming" and we were discussing it long after we had finished reading it.
A book well worth reading, and reading with children over 10.

(Now that we have discovered it has been made in to a movie, we are even more excited!)

This is a story told through the eyes of a young German boy, Bruno and portrays his innocence of what is happening in the world around him in Berlin in the second world war.
The story has a poignant and tragic end that wasn't apparent until nearly the last chapter.
Many stories have been told over the years. Usually from the victims side. Bruno's story makes you think of the other children that were caught up in this horrible war, the other innocents who through only being born where they did are caught up in this tragic event in history.
Every generation needs to read Ann Frank and this book, Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
More need to be told of Bruno's story.

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book. So many people had given rave reviews on it. A quarter of the way through it I was still deciding where I stood with it but then I found I couldn't put it down as I wanted to know where the story was headed and how it was going to end. The ending is very unexpected!!
The story has a different feel as it is written through the eyes of a young boy. Definately worth reading...

As an educator with a particular interest in the humanities, I recommend this book for ages 14+. Told simply, from a child's perspective, we are led towards the horror our adult minds know as the Holocaust. For a young person, reading this without any previous real understanding of the event, it is a shocking introduction that will leave them thinking - something we wish our young people to learn to do. This book could be used as a basis for a subject study on the evils of warfare.

You must read this book! If you think you have a heart of steel... I'll bet this will make you cry!
I can't believe (when I finished this book) that I had lived without it! It was amazing, Sad and just so beautiful!
Anyone could read this book but the younger you are (say 9) you probably wouldn't get it!

A book every family should have in their bookcase. Thought provoking, maybe for teenagers more than adults but I was very glad that I have read it.

Excellent book. My grandson of 11 also read it and had no knowlege of the holocaust, but does not.
We both read it in an night.

I rread this book in one weekend. Very moving story

What a horrific book! It still haunts me! But it was a very good read, and I couldn't put it down.

A great book written from the perspective of a 9-year old German boy describing his life in Berlin and the changes that take place when his father is promoted to Commondant - and he and his family have to move to a place called "Out-With". His naivete is touching and yet frustrating as the only friend he has is on the other side of a barbed wire fence, and always wears "striped pyjamas". We know that the book will not end happily - but in the last pages when I realised the direction it was taking, a part of me wanted to stop reading. Of course I continued and finished this most compelling read.

I have been to Auschwitz and was moved in so many ways by this chilling place. Atrocities to humankind are committed still, and it saddens me to think that that the people who could learn most from this book would never even pick it up.