what age for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

[fluffycauliflower]

I've jsut read it myself and am curious as to what others think is the appropriate age - it's such a heavy subject I don't know whether to suggest it to my 10 and 12 year olds.

My ds read it at school in yr 6, so 10 - 11yrs old.

I agree with others that the book is ok for 12 ish, but I wouldn't let a 12 year old watch the film. I was pretty traumatised by the film, and although I think 12 is fine for knowing about the facts, IMO the film makes it incredibly real, so maybe 15 for the film (I have no idea what the rating of the film is though!).

No age at all - it's tripe!

I read it to my son last year when he was 9/10. It was probably a mistake for a number of reasons. We live in Germany, my husband is German and so my son is dual-nationality. Unfortunately, a lot of the devices used in the book (such as the young boy Bruno's mispronunciation of Fuehrer and Auschwitz and his total naivety not realising that there's a war on) simply didn't work which meant that my son found Bruno an unbelievable character and could not identify with him. As an adult or older child, you don't take the story so literally (I've heard it described as a fable).

I'd recommend it only for children of an age where they are clearly in a later stage of development than Bruno (who is supposed to be 9, I think) and can read a story beyond its literal face value. A book from a non UK perspective which I feel is perhaps a better introduction to WW2 and suitable for 9 or 10 up is "The Silver Sword" by Ian Serraillier (bet I've spelled that wrong!) - it's an oldie but a goodie.

i wouldn't suggest it to anyone.
it's a ridiculous book.

there are so many other books about the holocaust that are actually believable... i honestly wouldn't recommend this one

Has anyone read "Friedrich" by Hans Peter Richter? I haven't, but it might be a better book for my son on the subject. Would love to hear from anyone who has read it.