A graphic novel version of Anne Frank’s biography was released in the Netherlands.
The 160-page book, launched Friday, uses text and illustrations to tell Frank’s story and make connections between her life and historical events during the period. According to Anne Frank House Museum spokeswoman Annemarie Bekker, the museum wants to use the book to make Frank’s story more available to teenagers from age 14.
“Not everyone has read Anne Frank’s diary,” she said in a statement to CNN. “The mission of the museum is to make the life story of Anne Frank accessible to as large an audience as possible, especially the younger generations.”
The biography is written by Sid Jacobson and illustrated by Ernest Colon, both American. They also co-created the bestselling graphic novel The 9/11 Commission Report. Publisher Hill & Wang plan to release the book in the U.S. later this month and Britain in the fall, with translations in German, Italian and French also planned.
Bekker said the museum plans to include the book in classroom teaching materials. They previously published two fictional comic-books that were very successful in schools in the Netherlands.
Anne Frank’s family was forced into hiding by the Nazis when she was 13. She wrote her world-famous diary during the two years they spent in a concealed apartment, until they were arrested. She and her sister were eventually sent to Bergen-Belsen in Germany, where they both died. A trusted friend salvaged the diary and gave it to Otto Frank, Anne’s father and the only surviving member of the family.
