Book Review: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

Anna is not sure who Hitler is, but she sees his face on posters all over Berlin. Then one morning, Anna and her brother awake to find her father gone! Her mother explains that their father has had to leave and soon they will secretly join him. Anna just doesn't understand. Why do their parents keep insisting that Germany is no longer safe for Jews like them? Because of Hitler, Anna must leave everything behind. 

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is probably one of my favourite books. It's a book based on Anna's perspective as she goes through life as a refugee. I think that's what really attracted me, the travelling and the weird customs that she encounters. The descriptions are sometimes so vivid I can feel myself in Anna's shoes, walking through the streets holding Mama's hands. That's the best part of a great book when you can feel yourself in that person's place. 

The story starts off quickly and to the point. After hours of travelling they finally reach Switzerland, where I think you'll find the funniest custom being practised, though I'm not quite sure if it's really an actual custom in Switzerland. In Switzerland, Anna finds more and more about herself, especially when a Nazi family comes in town. After some time they move elsewhere (I'm not telling where, I'm not spoiling the story for you). There Anna's character changes and grows. I love the place; I can imagine the little house they stay in with the amazing view. Then Anna goes back to Switzerland for a holiday and she finds herself so changed when she accidentally talks to her old teacher in French. Anna was shocked to find herself talk to her old teacher like that and feels that France is now more like home than she had thought.

I really enjoyed seeing Anna's character change, how interesting it was to learn a whole different language and culture. To live a different life. I'd give it 5/5. A highly recommended book. What have you been reading lately?

Ni sa

Destination: Nepal

Note: All the pictures (excluding the Angkot) has been taken by my family and I. Click on pictures for close up.

I think it's been over a month since I last blogged and you can clearly blame that on the sudden school load I had to do. 8th Grade clearly is a lot more tough but thank goodness it's the summer holidays now!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Getting back, I want to start on a section or series or whateveryoucallit called Destination. It's basically a travel series where I show you the places I have recently went to. Travelling is one of my favourite things to do. Over a month ago I went to Nepal. You know I never imagined myself to actually reach Nepal. It's like "the top of the world", where Land meets Sky. Kind of a Earth Meets Heaven mojo going on, well... That's what I thought anyways. But it's actually not like that.

Angkot

 When I reached Kathmandu, the capital, I saw that they didn't really have any high rise buildings. The streets were over crowded with so many vehicles, like many cities but what I found interesting was there were more minibuses then there were cars. These minibuses are used as a mode of public transportation, much like the angkot I can find in Indonesia. Kathmandu itself is quite messy, as in the planning of the city but it gives it a unique charm. I found so many interesting souvenirs and hand made things in Kathamndu in the alley near the Radisson Hotel. There was a shop there that sold stuff, from bags to bottle holders, that are made from recycled items, which I found really interesting and cool. Bigmart, a supermarket, is actually one of my favourite places...ironically, because it has sooo much more imported stuff and at a cheaper price than specialists stores in Chandigarh! It got stuff imported from Malaysia! So. Unfair.

Moving on to nature... I visited Bhaktapur and Nagarkot. Bhaktapur is a town filled with history. It's around a 2 hours drive from Kathmandu and when you reach there, there will be a counter. You need to pay them to look around the place. We got a paid tour guide from the counter took take us around. You've got to hike a bit to reach the actual place and when you get there you enter Durbar Square, a Temple Courtyard, with Temples dating centuries back. From the courtyard there are many different alley ways that lead you to other squares, this is the reason why I recommend getting a tour guide as the chances of you getting lost is very plausible. I loved Bhaktapur because it made me feel like an explorer going through those alleys, travelling back in time.

Nagarkot is a town nestled in the mountains and it's famous for their Himalayan views. We went there to see the sunset and my,oh my how lucky we were! It was a cloudless evening, unlike for the pass few days. The views were breathtaking!

Nagarkot Pictures

Picture of mountains taken in the plane

Nepal was amazing and not just its views. So were the people who were kind and honest. It was quite the adventure.

Ni sa