“So what did you think of that?” I enquired as the screening of “The Diary of Anne Frank” drew to a close.
“It was,” J11 began, and then hesitated. He turned to look at me, a sheepish look flickering on his face. “Good,” he concluded. I was just pleased he was actually connecting with The Lesson.
We have mostly steered clear of the Modern Wars with our children so far, but when then-K9 decorated a notebook with swastikas a few months back, we tiptoed into a few gentle conversations with the older ones. J13 and J11 have also started reading a few novels…..I Am David, Carrie’s War, Twenty and Ten, The Silver Sword, The Endless Steppe, *Biggles*…and The Gulag Archipelego is waiting on the shelf for when they are ready. Two excellent picture books have added visual atmosphere; “Anne Frank” by Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett, and “Rose Blanche” by Roberto Innocenti and Ian McEwan. Books we bought at Auschwitz and other various non-fiction have been pored over together and snuggled up on the couch with Grandpa-who-lived-through-it-and-lost-a-father-and-brother-during-it.

Then a chance sighting of “The Diary of Anne Frank” at the video store prompted me to add yet another dimension. Three hours long, we had to watch it in two sittings while the little children slept. It’s not necessarilly *ordinary* viewing for kids, but they sat entranced….and contributed to the conversation afterwards.