The Silver Sword

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A family is broken apart by the Second World War. Four children set out across Europe to put it back together.

Joseph Balicki is separated from his wife and children after his arrest in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. When he escapes from a prison camp and returns home, he finds the city in ruins and his family gone. Before leaving for Switzerland to search for his wife, he gives a silver paper-knife to a ragged orphan boy called Jan, with a message for his children if they are still alive.

Ruth, Edek and Bronia are left to fend for themselves amid the rubble of Warsaw. When they meet Jan and recognise the silver sword, they realise their father is alive and searching for them. Together they begin a dangerous journey across postwar Europe in the hope of reunion.

At its heart, this is a story about children refusing to give up on one another. The silver sword is small enough to carry in a pocket, but it holds the promise of home, reunion and a family still waiting to be found.

One of the great and enduring tales of survival, courage and hope. Ian Serrailler tells this extraordinary wartime story simply and directly, so that we feel the full force of its truth
Michael Morpurgo

So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!
National Association for the Teaching of English

About Ian Serraillier

Ian Serraillier (September 24, 1912 - November 28, 1994), was a British novelist and poet. Serraillier was best known for his children's books, especially the Silver Sword (Novel) (1956), a wartime adventure story which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1957 and again in 1971.

Born in London, Serraillier was educated at Brighton College, and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He became an English teacher, first at World War II. It was during this period that his first published work appeared, in the form of poetry for both adults and children. In 1946 his first children's novel was published. It was followed by several more adventure stories of treasure and spies. His best known work, The Silver Sword, was published in 1956 and has become a classic, bringing to life the story of four refugee children and their search for their parents in the chaos of Europe immediately after World War II.

As well as children's novels and poetry, Serrailler produced his own retellings of classic tales, in prose and verse, including Beowulf, Chaucer and Greek myth. Together with his wife Anne he founded the New Windmill Series in 1948, published by Heinemann Educational Books, which set out to provide inexpensive editions of good stories. He continued as co-editor of the series until the onset of Alzheimer's disease

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