Hearing statistics of what happened during a genocide doesn’t tug on our emotional heartstrings quite like an individual’s story does. Maus is one Holocaust survivor’s extraordinary tale.
I first read this book a couple of decades ago and it touched me a lot. So as I teach my son about this horrifying period in history, it made sense to me to read it again, this time with him. It’s written in comic book form, making it very easy for children to follow along.
Kids tend to lack perspective, and understandably so: their only experience of life is their own and the few people they know around them! So it can be easy for them to think they are among the unluckiest kids in the world if they get less sugary snacks or less screen time than their friends. Reading accounts like this can help them get some real perspective, in my opinion, as well as teach them some history.
I strongly recommend Maus to anyone who can read!
