With a gripping story and a spellbinding narrator, The Winged Watchman audiobook is a winner. Set during the dark days of the Nazi occupation of Holland during WWII, Joris, 10-years-old, and his older brother Dirk Jan are the main characters in this story. From the opening chapter in the book, when Joris saves a young puppy from being beaten, they struggle--alone or together--to do what is right in a world that seems to be falling apart.

Throughout the book in fact, they, as well as their parents, are faced with choices, choices that involve risks, even death. Should they help the young girl left lying on the side of the road, the airman hiding in the mill, the man escaping from deportation? The risks they face are very real as they soon find out when their neighbor and his son, the same age as Joris, are taken away after British airmen are found hiding in his barn. As Joris stares at his classmate's empty desk in school, he is reminded all too vividly that his neighbor could be him.

Who is it that could have done such a wicked thing as to reveal the airmen's presence? It could be none other that Leendert Schenderhans, another neighbor boy, only not just a "boy" but a young man of eighteen, who had become a landwatcher, a Dutchman who enforces the laws of the Nazi occupation.

He too plays a critical part in the story. Joris has to only observe how he acts to realize that he does not want to be like him, cruel, selfish, lazy, and greedy. The reader doesn't have to be told he is mean, through his actions, we become all too keenly aware of his lack of virtue. More than just a nasty person, he is a person to be feared, because of his power.

Not just another story about WWII, this is a story every child should read or hear, because it not only offers children a very real view of history, but it also explores timeless issues they have to deal with every day, even today. How can I forgive my enemy?

This is a theme that is repeated throughout the story. Especially memorable is the scene when Joris comments that he thought he would get holes in his knees from praying for so many people. The story goes on to say, "At first she [mother] would not pray for the Germans, though Father said that was wrong. 'We have to pray for our enemies,' he said. 'What sort of Christian are you?' So then Mother prayed for the Germans too."

You won't be disappointed! This is a story to treasure, made especially enjoyable by a wonderful narrator, who makes this an absolute listening pleasure.


Click here for Discussion Questions Click here to listen to an audio sample on the Bethlehem Books website