IAN SERRAILLIER

The 'Oxford Bookworms Library' extends the range of activities and teaching support of 'Oxford Bookworms' and includes in each book an Activities section of 'Before Reading', 'While Reading' and 'After Reading' exercises. The six stages offer stories at different levels of ability.

If you meet Ruth or Edek or Bronia, you must tell them I'm going to Switzerland to find their mother. Tell them to follow as soon as they canHaving lost their parents in the chaos of war, Ruth, Edek and Bronia are left alone to fend for themselves and hide from the Nazis amid the rubble and ruins of their city. They meet a ragged orphan boy, Jan, who treasures a paperknife - a silver sword - which was entrusted to him by an escaped prisoner of war. The three children realise that the escapee was their father, the silver sword a message that he is alive and searching for them. Together with Jan they begin a dangerous journey across the battlefields of Europe to find their parents.BACKSTORY: Read a letter from the author's daughter and find out about the amazing true stories that inspired The Silver Sword.

THE SILVER SWORD by Ian Serraillier is an unforgettable World War II survival story. Although the silver sword was only a paper knife, it became the symbol of hope and courage which kept the Balicki children and their orphan friend Jan alive through the four years of occupation when they had to fend for themselves. And afterwards it inspired them to keep going on the exhausting and dangerous journey from war-torn Poland to Switzerland, where they hoped to find their parents.Based on true accounts, this is a moving story of life during and after the Second World War.