Product Description

Alone and fending for themselves in a Poland devastated by World War Two, Jan and his three homeless friends cling to the silver sword as a symbol of hope. As they travel through Europe towards Switzerland, where they believe they will be reunited with their parents, they encounter many hardships and dangers. This extraordinarily moving account of an epic journey gives a remarkable insight into the reality of life in war-torn Europe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9693 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover
The night the Nazis come to take their mother away, three children escape in a terrifying scramble across the rooftops. Alone in the chaos of Warsaw, they have to learn to survive on their own.

Then they meet Jan, a ragged boy with a paperknife - the silver sword - that they recognize as belonging to their long-lost father. The sword becomes their symbol of hope as, with Jan, they begin the hazardous journey across war-torn Europe to find their parents.

Ian Serraillier's moving account of a family torn apart by war speaks as much to us today as it did when it was first written.

About the Author
Ian Serraillier was born in London in 1912 and educated at Brighton College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He worked as a teacher, but worked from his Sussex home writing for children from 1961. His main achievements included poetry, retellings in verse and prose, educational and local history books, and the founding and co-editing of the New Windmill Series for Heinemann Educational Books. Ian Serraillier died in November 1994.

Customer Reviews

A charming story of hope, dignity and resilience
I first read Ian Serraillier's all to brief account (less than 180 pages) of a group of Polish children's journey across war torn Europe around fifteen years ago when I was still in primary school, and was recently reminded of it after seeing it on the BBC's 'Big Read' top 100 list and decided to reread it.

'The Silver Sword' begins with the escape of the Polish school headmaster Joseph Balicki from a German labour camp, who upon returning to Warsaw, finds his home destroyed, his wife captured and imprisoned by the Nazi's and rumours about the apparent death of his three young children. Joseph decides to leave Poland and to journey to the safety of his parent's home in Switzerland, but before departing he leaves his only link to his happy past, a paper-knife given to him by his wife, with a street urchin on the understanding that if his children are alive, and if he should meet them, then he must pass the message onto them to head for Switzerland.

His three young children, the eldest Ruth, "a remarkable girl, (with) a sense of purpose and moral authority", Edek, "brave and intelligent" and the youngest, Bronia, "blue eyes, very fair eyes, she seemed to live in a dream world", did indeed survive the war and began a dangerous life in Nazi occupied Warsaw, begging and working for the little scraps of food available and dodging the bullets of Nazi snipers. It is during this period that Ruth becomes the adoptive mother and teacher to a group of children in the cellar of the shell of a bombed building, including the war-orphan Jan, a "charming bundle of good intentions and atrocious deeds."

After a scuffle with the generous Russian sentry, Ivan, Jan's wooden box is destroyed and its contents, including the 'Silver Sword' are strewn onto the floor. Jan then retells Joseph's story to his new friends and Ruth decides that the Balicki children must make the two hundred mile to Basel, Switzerland. Setting off with Jan, they are reunited with Edek, who has spent many months as a German labourer following his capture whilst smuggling cheese into Warsaw. Edek, who is seriously ill with tuberculosis, is soon revived at the sight of his father's paper-knife and is inspired to fight both his fatigue and dislike of Jan enough to complete their dangerous journey to their new home.

With the aid of many helpful and generous adults, including the Russian soldier, Ivan; the British officer, Mark; a Polish-American GI called Joe Wolski and most noticeably the Bavarian farmer Kurt Wolff and his wife, Emma, who help the children escape capture by the Burgomaster, with his instructions to send all refugees back to their homelands, the Balicki children and Jan manage to make their extraordinary journey across Europe to be reunited with Joseph and Margrit.

Since it's publication, Ian Serraillier's story has rightly joined the list of timeless children stories, despite it often being criticised during the 1950's for being to gruesome and not suitable for children. But it was defended by Owen Reed, the head of BBC Children's Television at the time as it "treated them (children) as responsible citizens who could be trusted with a frank account of what the war and its by-products, like juvenile delinquency and refugees, was really about."

Although the characters and some of the books locations are fictitious, the stories are based upon true people and events that the author read about in various publications following the end Second World War. Indeed, Ian Serraillier's research was so thorough that it took him five years to finish the story, with him only being able to write during the summer holiday's because of his teaching profession, and even changing the text whilst it was at the publishers awaiting printing.

Yet, despite the simplistic prose and story progression - which may put off adult readers - 'The Silver Sword' will engross and excite young readers with its adventure, danger and the good-natured purposefulness of its characters shining throughout.

Childhood memories
When at junior School,(some 20 or more years ago)we had a book club from which we could purchase. One of the first i ever chose was the silver sword. I am the biggest bookworm imaginable, and I loved that book. Even as an adult I would read it when I had "nothing else" to read, althought i guess that was never strictly true. I read it and read it and stuck it back together with sticky tape and read it some more untill there was nothing left of it to read. I would thouroughly recomend it to every child and grown up and every english teacher in the world. Life is not complete without the silver sword.

best book I have ever read
The Silver Sword is a really good book and I would recommend it to 9 year olds and adults that are interested in the Second World War.

The story is set in the Second World War and is about four children- Ruth, Edek and Broinia - they are the Baliki children. When Edek is taken to a labour camp Ruth and Bronia meet Jan/Yan who becomes like a brother to them, and he loves animals.

While they were in Berlin Jan /Yan meets a monkey called Bistro and is the only one who can calm him down. I think that Jan /Yan is a really good character and he is really cheeky and is the best person to deal with animals because he really understands them.

The book is based on a real life story and is a really great book. I think that people who were in the Second World War would love this book as they can find out how other people coped. I was really moved when the children are reunited with their parents again, especially considering all that they go through.

I recommend that you go out and buy the book NOW!