Four Perfect Pebbles is an excellent book for introducing the Holocaust to middle school students. It would also work well as a high-interest/low-readability text for older students who are learning English or who have reading challenges. The Lexile Measure for Pebbles is 1080L. When it was first published in 1996, Pebbles was named an ALA Notable Book, and ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and a Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.

The Blumenthal family’s story is unusual because all four of the family members are able to stay together throughout their six and a half year imprisonment by the Nazis.  As Holocaust stories go, it has a relatively “happy” ending. The book is liberally illustrated with photos and documents the family was able to preserve.

The Lazans maintain a website with information about Marion (www.fourperfectpebbles.com).

This lesson plan was developed for use in an 8th grade reading classroom. It assumes that the students have limited Holocaust knowledge and incorporates instruction of pertinent Holocaust history. The emphasis of the unit is reading comprehension and the ability to determine main ideas and write effective summaries.

Lesson Plan for Four Perfect Pebbles
Optional Lesson Plan: Camera of My Family
Optional Lesson Plans: Courage to Care
Vocabulary for Chs.1-3