Description Share Post The House on the Canal The Story of the House that Hid Anne Frank Thomas Harding, anne frank haus, Britta Teckentrup (Walker Studio) Built more than 400 years ago, The House on the Canal has ‘served as a home, a warehouse, a stable and a hiding place’. Thomas Harding offered us the story of his home The House by the Lake. Here, he returns with the story of the building in which Anne Frank’s family sought safety. Thereafter, we chart its course its history. It seems we begin with marshland, ‘a calm and happy place‘. However, human habitation and the digging of a ditch declared Amsterdam. Houses were built along the canal, including this one, near a ‘tall church‘ with bells that ‘rang- DONG DONG DONG DONG- four times every hour‘. Thereafter, seasons passed and families lived and played in the home’s garden. However plague, and the Great Frost meant the home lost its grandeur. In fact, following the departure of wealthy merchant owners, the home’s residents became horses. It seems its use progressed toward business and production around the same time a chestnut tree was planted. That tree was written about by its most famous resident, Anne Frank. Bookwagon loves the shape of the book, the outstanding pictures from Britta Teckentrup. It seems these help us appreciate such a long, rich history sympathetically. Then again the succinct narrative makes the information and changes meaningful. What’s more, dates at the top right corner of every page commit to an unwinding timeline. Altogether it means that The House on the Canal is a superior picture book. Bookwagon suggests this is a book to read, share, learn from, research further, know and love. This history is utterly absorbing and huge. Then again, it is also vitally important, chronicling our human history, frailties, successes, horrors and hope.
