Number the Stars — Chapter 2

About This Passage

This passage is the heart of chapter two. The boy on the street has just told a German soldier that 'All of Denmark is his bodyguard,' and now Annemarie — only seven years old at the time — asks her father whether what the boy said was really true. Papa pauses. He always pauses before answering hard questions; that pause is itself part of the lesson. He says yes, and then Annemarie names herself among the citizens who would die for the king. Copying this passage trains attention to how courage gets passed down inside families: a parent considers carefully, and a child decides she belongs to the answer.

Narration Prompt

Retell chapter two. Begin with Kirsti asking for a fairy tale in bed and the made-up story of Princess Kirsten with pink-frosted cupcakes; move to Annemarie's memory of King Christian X riding through Copenhagen each morning on his horse Jubilee; tell the story of the brave boy who answered the German soldier with 'All of Denmark is his bodyguard'; then Papa's careful talk about why Denmark did not fight while Norway and Holland did; and finally Annemarie's quiet thoughts about Lise, the dead older sister, whose wedding dress is folded in the trunk in the corner of the bedroom.

Discussion Questions

1. When the soldier asks 'Where is his bodyguard?' the boy answers, 'All of Denmark is his bodyguard.' What in the story tells you what the boy meant by 'all of Denmark'? How is loving a king together different from being protected by hired guards?
2. Papa says, 'We are such a tiny country, and they are such an enormous enemy. Our king was wise. He knew how few soldiers Denmark had. He knew that many, many Danish people would die if we fought.' Was King Christian's choice not to fight an act of cowardice or wisdom? What in the story makes you think so?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide