Book Thief

This book was def one of the better books we have read in this class. I loveeedd the perspective because of how different it was! Death? wow. Even though the whole time I was picturing the Grim Reaper (spelling? I have no idea) from that family guy episode where he keeps trying to kill Peter Griffin...

Anyway, I would def teach this book. I think it will fit in well with history class too when they are teaching about the Holocaust, then they can connect it to this novel. I also think the perspective, use of colors, and literary terms can be taught and analyzed. Also, there are plenty of other novels to connect it with, such as "Number the Stars," or "Night." Plus movies, and I am sure some TV shows or youtube videos have something on the Holocaust. I am a firm believer in not just analyzing and recognizing the plot line, but by getting the point across in a fun way. As a student, I always loved when teachers put on a clip of a movie, or tied it into a tv show we all watched. Actually, I still do love it.

Some activities that can be done with this book is maybe have them draw their own novel expressing a difficult time in their life (such as Max did). Maybe you could even have them tell their story through their parents' point of view. Also, I found this website when looking up things on the Book Thief because I was so interested, and one idea was to: have students create their own Rorschach test by using paper towels and food coloring. The food coloring is dropped onto one side of a folded paper towel. The paper towel is folded to create an identical two-sided image. Images are shown before the class and the students tell what they see. This demonstrates how differently we “see” the very same things, and ultimately how unique our personal view or narration of an event or story can be.

The website has a lot more ideas if anyone wants to check it out... http://english.byu.edu/Novelinks/Novel%20Pages/The%20Book%20Thief.htm
it even connects it to the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," which I would have never of thought about.