Shared Reading - Once - Morris Gleitzman

Chapter 7 (p. 57)

‘Once I woke up and I was at home in bed. Dad was reading me a story about a boy who got left in an orphanage. Mum came in with some carrot soup. They both promised they’d never leave me anywhere. We hugged and hugged.’

1. What is the significance of the following: the armbands? Felix’s predictions about the future?

2. How does Felix answer his own question – ‘Why would the Nazis make people suffer like this just for the sake of some books?’ (p.64) Why is this a turning point?

3. Theme: Loss - Use colours, symbols and text to explain how this theme was represented in this chapter.

4. Reflection: Displacement. Think about the many things the people forced to travel on the road had to abandon. Apart from material possessions, what else would they have had to leave behind? (e.g.: other people, businesses, family heirlooms, pets, freedom, wealth etc…) What could they bring with them? (e.g.: spiritual beliefs, knowledge, loved ones etc…)