Twice Mice

This book is written from the perspective of nine-year old Bruno, who has moved with his family from Berlin to somewhere out in the country called “Out-With”. His father is a soldier with a very important job, but Bruno doesn’t like the new house. It only has three stories, and he has no friends to play with. One day he goes exploring, and finds a boy sitting on the other side of a very tall fence. The boy is wearing striped pyjamas, and his name is Shmuel. This is the story of the friendship that develops between Bruno and Shmuel. It is a very simple yet powerful book, similar in some ways to the movie “Life is Beautiful”.

“Who are all those people outside?”

Father tilted his head to the left, looking a little confused by the question. “Soldiers, Bruno, ” he said. “And secretaries. Staff workers. You’ve seen them all before, of course.”

“No, not them,” said Bruno. “The people I see from my window. In the huts, in the distance. They’re all dressed the same.”

“Ah, those people,” said Father, nodding his head and smiling slightly. “Those people… well, they’re not really people at all, Bruno.”

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