Review Detail

“The House on the Canal: The Story of the House that Hid Anne Frank” by Thomas Harding, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup, starts off in the year 1580 when there was marshland. As time passed and the 1600s arrived, building started to occur, and by 1635, a lovely house with brick walls, pine floors, and an annex with a large attic were constructed.

As time went on, a family who had been chased from their home because of their Christian beliefs moved in. Little did they know that several hundred years in the future, Jews would use the home to try to escape the cruelties of life outside.

Centuries later, a man rented the house for his business. His name was Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father. The year was 1941. Only a year later, Jews were being rounded up. Before long, Anne and her family hid in the attic, and they were forced to keep quiet unless they wanted to be discovered. When that ended up happening, they didn’t all return to the house. Yet, the house still stands as a symbol of who Anne Frank was, what she and her family stood for, and how they coped with the reality they were dealt during the time they lived in the house on the canal.

The back matter of the book gives further explanation about the canal, the builder of the original home, the various people who lived in the house and the businesses that existed there, and then added words about Anne Frank and how it has now been turned into a home in her memory.

The factual and historical nature of this book, showcasing time as it passes in the same location, is quite intriguing. It is a sad story, but one that must be shared by the masses to prevent a tragedy like the Holocaust from occurring ever again.