A Picture book mentioned among “2019’s Best Holocaust Books for Kids” by Marjorie Ingall in Tablet is “The Brave Princess and Me” which introduces Princess Alice of Greece who was deaf and sheltered Greek Jewish refugees.
The Brave Princess and Me by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Juliana Kolesova. This somber picture book introduced me to a historical figure I didn’t know: Princess Alice of Greece, the mother of England’s Prince Philip and grandmother of Prince Charles. In 1943, when the German army occupied Athens, Princess Alice, who was deaf, offered shelter in her home to Greek Jewish refugees. (The picture book doesn’t delve into her struggles with mental illness, or how cruelly the royal family treated her—the focus is on Tilde, the young girl being hidden—but there’s a reason the princess has left the United Kingdom for Greece. Ripped from today’s headlines!) The Princess Alice we meet is kind and generous and brave, and she understands discrimination; when Rachel Cohen and Tilde show up on her doorstep—they tell the servant at the door that the princess knew their late husband and father, Haimaki Cohen, a former member of British Parliament—the servant wants to turn them away. But the princess lets them in without hesitation. Little Tilde explores the fancy home and is spied peeking out a window; when suspicious German soldiers show up, Princess Alice acts dimwitted, pretending not to understand them. (The real Princess Alice, who understood three languages, actually used this trick.) The soldiers believe she’s a pathetic, handicapped idiot and leave. While the book’s writing is a bit dry, the story itself is fascinating; the dark, formal, oil-painting-esque art is appropriately serious. The afterword, with photos of the real Princess Alice and of her great-grandson Prince William visiting Yad Vashem, makes clear what parts of the story are true and what’s fiction. That’s important. (Ages 7-10)
Source: www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/297199/2019s-best-holocaust-books-for-kids
