So Powerful

I Am David by Ann Holm is a children’s classic published in 1963. It is perfect for ages ten years and over, with the power to affect your life whatever your age.

I Am David requires the reader to think as we become totally immersed in the life of David.

David is a twelve-year-old whose life, that he can remember, has so far been spent in an unnamed concentration camp. We do not know for how long or where. David is the microcosm for all those souls who endured the camps.

I Am David is a journey of discovery – literally, and mentally for both the reader and David. We hear about the lessons that a man called Johannes taught David in the camp. “Johannes said greedy people can never be happy, and I would so very much like to know what it feels like to be happy.” David is wise beyond his years but also retains an innocence about him as there is so much that he does not know about a ‘normal’ childhood.

David is both resourceful and brave. He continually fears being returned to ‘them’ (the guards in the camp.)

We witness David beginning to build a relationship with God. “He would not go on asking God for things – it would be greedy, and God might grow tired of a boy who was always frightened.” David has yet to learn that God loves him unconditionally and is always there for him.

As David journeys, he observes “it was best not to hope for too much.” To have hope dashed would be soul destroying.

David builds his own character. “You can’t change others, but you can do something about a fault in yourself.”

Within this short book, there are lessons for us all.

I Am David is as powerful today as when it was first published. It remains a children’s classic because it is both timeless and also enables us to think about just what were the camps like for a child who has never known any different. We draw close to both humanity and to God.

JULIA WILSON