Module 6 – The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by: Carmen Agra Deedy

PLOT:  Denmark is a small country that had a big king.  During the 1940s King Christian X was the ruler of Denmark and all of his people respected him.  King Christian X rode his horse every morning through the streets without body guards.  He did not fear his people and his people didn’t fear him.  Soon the Nazi invasion reached Denmark and King Christian had to make difficult decisions.  When the Nazi’s invaded Copenhagen they placed a Nazi flag on top of the building where all the citizens of Copenhagen could see it.  King Christian ordered a soldier to remove the Nazi flag. A Nazi officer questioned King Christian and told him that another flag will be put up and King Christian said then it to will be taken down.  The Nazi officer informed the King that if anyone tried to remove the flag that they would get shot.  The King had to make a decision to stand up for his country and the way he did it, was to make sure that the Nazi flag was not going to be hung. The Nazi’s had to figure out who was Jewish and who was not so they ordered everyone that was Jewish to sew a yellow star and display it when they were in public.  King Christian, once again, felt he needed to stand up for his people so he to also wore a yellow star.  Everyone then wore the yellow star.

Deedy, C.A. (2000). The yellow star: The legend of King Christian X of Denmark. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers LTD.

IMPRESSION OF THE BOOK:  World War II historical fiction books are my favorite topic.  There are many stories where people displayed bravery and compassion for the fallen.  This book demonstrates how a king displayed his bravery for his people and how he is willing to stand up for what is right.  I really like the way there is a loyalty between the Danish people and their king.  He shows his respect and loyalty by riding his horse around the town unprotected.  The king knows that he doesn’t have the man power to fight the Nazi’s so he finds different ways to lift the spirits of his people. The king empowers his people to wear a star so that everyone looks the same and to show that everyone is Danish. This book gets two thumbs up.

REVIEWS:  Publishers Weekly (July 17, 2000)

Although it is billed as "legend," Deedy's (The Library Dragon) WWII story raises disturbing questions regarding the importance of historical accuracy. Here Denmark's courageous King Christian responds to the Nazi edict that all Jews must wear a yellow star by wearing a yellow star himself, and his act inspires his subjects to do likewise. Deedy's writing is vivid and lyrical–but in an afterword she acknowledges that her story is "unauthenticated" and that no Danish Jews were "forced" to wear the yellow star. As Ellen Levine points out in her recent Darkness Over Denmark (Children's Forecasts, June 26), the order about the star was never issued in Denmark. Where Levine cited the false story of the king's yellow star to explore the facts about Danish resistance to the Nazis, this book, in perpetuating a myth, clouds history; it also deflects from the country's most famous act of resistance in rescuing the overwhelming majority of its Jews (the afterword reports that Danes smuggled over 7,000 Jews to Sweden in fishing boats). Ultimately, despite the graceful prose, the insight offered into a dark era and Danish artist Sorensen's magnificent oil paintings, the book's fundamental flaw is difficult to overlook. Ages 8-12.

Publishers Weekly. (2000). [Review of the book The yellow star: The legend of King Christian X of Denmark, by Carmen Agra Deedy]. Peachtree Publishers LTD. Retrieved July 11, 2013, from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56145-208-8

USE IN THE LIBRARY:  This a perfect book to introduce to a teacher and collaborate to create a lesson about the Holocaust.  This book would be used as an ice breaker or introduction to an extensive research lesson on the Holocaust.  After reading the book students could begin their research by using databases or using websites such as the US Holocaust Memorial Museum site at www.ushmm.org/education or Holocaust Page of the Internet School

Library Media Center  at www.falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/holo.htm.  These websites offer an extensive amount of information where students can create an essay or a visual media presentation.