November brings shorter, darker days. We “fall back” an hour placing sunset, especially for those in Northern states, just after the last school bell rings, and before the time clock strikes 5. We rise in the dark, commute in the dark, and might feel like we’re living much of our lives underground like moles… searching for the light.
My November Book Club pick then, is perfect, “The Light That Shines Forever”, written and illustrated by David T. Warner.
It’s the inspiring, true story of Sir Nicholas Winton, who ingeniously rescued hundreds of children before Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia.
“The shadow of war was spreading across Europe. Hitler’s armies had marched into the borderlands of Czechoslovakia, forcing Jewish families, among others, to flee their homes and seek refuge in any location that would accept them.
When Nicholas Winton, the son of Jewish-German immigrants, traveled from London to Czechoslovakia to help the refugee families huddled in tents in sprawling encampments, an ingenious plan began to formulate in his head. By special waiver, children could leave the country without their parents, as long as host families abroad took them in. As word of his plan spread, parents lined the hallways and staircases of Winton’s hotel, begging for help. If Nicholas could get their children out of the country safely, the families would find a way to join them. Three weeks later, when Winton returned to London, he carried with him the names and photographs of hundreds of children—even babies—entrusted to him by their parents.
With the assistance of his mother and a growing circle of helpers, Winton began recruiting host families, raising funds, and securing visas. For nine months, he arranged for children to travel by train and ferry to England. Then war was declared, and the Czech border closed.
Fifty years later, Nicholas’s wife, Grete, discovered a long-forgotten scrapbook in their attic containing the names and documentation of 669 children. It was the only record of her husband’s remarkable rescue efforts. What followed was a series of equally remarkable events that allowed this heroic story to be told and for millions to learn the fate of these rescued children, all on live television.”
The Light That Shines Forever is a beautifully illustrated picture book, with primary source documents and photographs, that brings to life a remarkable wartime rescue.
The forward is written by one of my favorite British actors, Sir David Suchet (Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot 13 seasons). In it, he states, “So often, relious beliefs, cultural backgrounds, historical traditions, and so forth, are excuses to divide ourselves from one another. But, like light itself, God’s love shines on all people, everywhere. And when we share that light by serving others—including with those who are different from us—the light of goodness has an infinite reach and influence.” This book’s lesson and message invite readers to ask the questions: