Books

The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die describes an extraordinary journey, made by Peter, a boy of five, through war-torn Europe in 1944 and 1945. Peter and his parents set out from a small Hungarian town, travelling through Austria and then Germany together.
Along the way, unforgettable images of adventure flash one after another: sleeping in a tent and then under the sky, discovering a disused brick factory, catching butterflies in the meadows – and as Peter realises that this adventure is really a nightmare – watching bombs falling from the blue sky outside Vienna, learning maths from his mother in Belsen. All this is drawn against a background of terror, starvation, infection and, inevitably, death, before Peter and his mother can return home.
This book was published in 2023 to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day. It was shortlisted for the British Book Awards in 2024 in the category of Children’s Books and won the United Kingdom Literacy Association Awards in the Information Books category.
This story has been told at greater length in Parallel Lines, but this version is told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy, intended for a younger readership.
“Deeply moving”
— Booktrust“A gripping story of love, courage and triumph over evil”
— The Bookseller“Can, and should, be read by an audience of any age.”
— Jewish News“An extraordinary true story”
— Guardian
The Times Children’s Book of the Week
Winner: UKLA Information Book Award
Shortlisted: Children’s Non Fiction Book of the Year, British Book Awards 2024.