THANKS TO HANS Christian Andersen, Denmark has always held a prominent place in British children’s literature, but we tend to associate it with tailless mermaids and Viking Danegeld rather than a people’s moral courage. The story of how the Danish, uniquely, stood up to the Nazi invasion of their country by smuggling out virtually their entire population of Jews, thus saving them from the gas chambers, is one that should be better-known. The broadcaster and comedienne Sandi Toksvig, who is half Danish, was inspired by the tales her father told her about the occupation of Copenhagen.

Bamse is the third child of a famous Danish actress and an artist father. The world of the theatre, which Bamse loves, wraps the family in a comforting embrace of thespian fantasy while also making them particularly alert to anti-Semitism. His Mama’s ancient, adoring gay dresser Thomas (who later proves the most heroic person in the story) is Jewish, as is her hat-maker, and Bamse’s exciting, excitable best friend, Anton.

Both the boys and Bamse’s big brother, Orlando, are soon organising sabotage for the resistance. But this is not a simple, black-and-white tale of good Danes and bad Germans; as Toksvig says in her afterword: “There were just some good people and some bad people and it wasn’t always easy to tell the difference.” Bamse’s own Uncle Johann, for instance, who saved his brother from being burnt alive in a barn, wavers between old-fashioned prejudice and grudging respect for the individual Jews he encounters; his sister, Masha, is in love with a terrified young Nazi soldier; and another German naval officer, looking down into the hold in which Jewish refugees are hidden, calls out: “Not many fish in here,” and lets them continue on their voyage to Sweden.

There does seem to have been something unique in the spirit of this brave country, in which there has never been a ghetto — Denmark was the first state to grant the Jews full, unconditional emancipation. As Bamse’s father tells him: “There are large Danes, small Danes, lazy Danes, hard-working Danes, even Great Danes . . . but we are all Danish. That’s all.”

Despite the comedy of a car run on cow-dung, Bamse’s family suffer for their courage and ingenuity (which includes building a false wall in their apartment behind which ten Jews hide while the flat is searched by Nazis), with his beloved mother becoming a morphine addict by the end. The tale is told mostly in dialogue and with its many charming line drawings the book is less grim than most war books but no less moving.

There are not many classic children’s novels about the Second World War but this is one of them. Toksvig’s enchanting and inspiring tale reminds us of how even the smallest people made a difference.

Doubleday, £8.99; 209pp
£7.64 (p&p 99p)
0870 1608080
www.timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst

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