Product Description

For three years and eight months Felix has lived in a convent orphanage high in the mountains in Poland. But Felix is different from the other orphans. He is convinced his parents are still alive and will come back to get him. When a group of Nazi soldiers come and burn the nuns' books, Felix is terrified that his Jewish, bookseller parents will also be in danger. After escaping from the orphanage, Felix embarks on a long and dangerous journey through Nazi occupied Poland, befriending a little orphan girl called Zelda and a kindly dentist, Barney, who hides and cares for Jewish children. But when the Nazis discover them, Barney makes the ultimate sacrifice for the children.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3577 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Morris Gleitzman was born in Lincolnshire and moved to Australia in his teens. He worked as a paperboy, a shelf-stacker, a frozen chicken de-froster, an assistant to a fashion designer and more before taking a degree in Professional Writing at Canberra College and becoming a writer. He has written for TV, stage, newspapers and magazines but is best-known for his hugely succesful children's books including Two Weeks with the Queen, Bumface, Boy Overboard and Girl Underground.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic children's book that adults should read!!
My 10 year old read this book in two days and loved it. It's written in very simple language from the viewpoint of a young Jewish boy in Poland in 1942 who is trying to find his parents. The plot is simple but riveting and unusually is written in the present tense. For my son, the story was paramount and although the subject matter is harrowing for an adult, children seem to be able to detach themselves. When I read the book, I couldn't put it down!! It brilliantly captures the thinking of small boy in a frightening, violent world, and charts his journey from endearing naivety to crushing realisation of the truth. The book also highlights the humanity and resilience of the time without ever sentimentalising. The ending is very cleverly done, its ambiguity allowing the reader to complete their own story. For me, this was one of those books that leaves you thoughtful for days and has a profound effect, you feel that the subject matter will never be the same again! An exciting, thought-provoking read for children, a harrowing, but uplifting read for adults and a great book to discuss with your children after you've both read it.

A moving and uplifting introduction to the holocaust
'Once' is one of the most moving, emotional and entertaining books I've read in a long time.

It's about a 9-year-old Jewish boy who's in a Catholic orphanage, believing that his parents are off sorting out their bookselling business and will be back for him any minute. All the evidence points to his parents being dead, but the boy thinks up more and more elaborate (and humorous) explanations for his circumstances, and stays cheerful, because he 'knows' his parents are coming back for him soon.

He runs away to find them and finds Nazis clearing the people out of his town and killing people. Even while the boy is trying to make sense of the horrific things he sees, the story remains uplifting, and there is humour in the most dire of circumstances.

Moving and believable
This was another special book by Morris Gleitzman. I always find that you can read his books quickly and they are easy to read, but they always have depth and a proper story and they always leave you thinking for ages afterwards.

This is a book about a boy called Felix who runs away from the orphanage that he is at during WW2. It is his tale of survival with the people that he meets along the way. The ending is sad. Possiby one of the saddest I have ever read. I was desperate to read it so I finished it during an English lesson at school and I was trying not to cry during the lesson!