The Whispering Town

Name: The Whispering Town
Author: Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren

A story that explores cooperation and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families

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♥ This book teaches: Cooperation. choosing the group over the self.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition of Cooperation for children for 8 - 11 year olds: Cooperation happens when we work together with a good attitude to achieve the same goal or accomplish a common task. Sometimes it involves being willing to compromise or give something up so that the task can get done. In a nutshell: Together we can do more Summary: When Germany invaded Denmark at the beginning of WWII, Danes hid Jews from the Nazis and successfully smuggled most of them out of Denmark into safety in Sweden. This book tells the story of a Danish family who participated in this mission with their neighbors. The families cooperated by whispering from neighbor to neighbor to guide the Jewish families at night through the town to the harbor where they boarded boats to Sweden. Even though it is written in simple language, the book is for older kids who are ready to tackle this subject of the persecution of Jews during WWII. Lesson Objectives:

This story can be a link to history lessons about WWII and in particular, the persecution of Jews by the Nazis (in an age-appropriate way).
Students discuss how cooperation and teamwork sometimes saves lives, exploring other examples of what they’ve observed about this in books, movies, and real life incidents.

Guiding Questions:

Where and when did this story take place?
Who were the new friends in the cellar?
Who were the new friends hiding from?
The girl whispered to let the baker, the librarian, and the farmer know what she needed for their guests. Explain what they did to help.
What was the rescue plan to get the Jewish family to the boats?
What were the consequences faced by those who helped Jews escape and why do you think the Danes were willing to take that risk?
What do you think you would have done if you were in that situation and why?
What do you think the author of this book wanted you to understand from this story based on true events?
Can you think of people, animals, or something in nature that needs rescuing? What is it, what can you do about it, and how could you get others to help you?
If someone saved your life, how would you feel about those who rescued you?

🌿 Virtue Connection: Cooperation means choosing to contribute to something larger than yourself.

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.

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Cooperation · Family Discussion Guide

The Whispering Town

by Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren

Guiding Questions

This story can be a link to history lessons about WWII and in particular, the persecution of Jews by the Nazis (in an age-appropriate way).
Students discuss how cooperation and teamwork sometimes saves lives, exploring other examples of what they’ve observed about this in books, movies, and real life incidents.

Guiding Questions:

Where and when did this story take place?
Who were the new friends in the cellar?
Who were the new friends hiding from?
The girl whispered to let the baker, the librarian, and the farmer know what she needed for their guests. Explain what they did to help.
What was the rescue plan to get the Jewish family to the boats?
What were the consequences faced by those who helped Jews escape and why do you think the Danes were willing to take that risk?
What do you think you would have done if you were in that situation and why?
What do you think the author of this book wanted you to understand from this story based on true events?
Can you think of people, animals, or something in nature that needs rescuing? What is it, what can you do about it, and how could you get others to help you?
If someone saved your life, how would you feel about those who rescued you?

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The Whispering Town

Guiding Questions for Parents.

About the Story.

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The Whispering Town

Guiding Questions