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Period: to
The Book Thief Timeline
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PART 1
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Werner Dies
While on the train, Werner begins coughing horrendously and dies. (pg 20) -
Liesel and Werener are on a train.
Liesel and her brother Werner are on a train to Molching to arrive at their new foster parents house. (pg 8) -
Werner is Buried
Werner is buried right beside the train tracks when the train arrives in Molching. (pg 23) -
The Book Thief makes her first move
At the burial site of Werner, Liesel finds a book on the ground, The Grave Digger's Handbook. Liesel steals this book to commemorate the loss of her brother. (pg 29) -
Liesel is taken to Himmel Street, in Molching
Liesel is taken to the foster parents house, on Himmel Street in Molching, in a car. This was Liesel's first car ride. (pg 25) -
Hans teaches Liesel to roll Cigarettes
Hans protects Liesel from Rosa's harsh words, and teaches Liesel to roll his cigarettes. (pg 33) -
Liesel has a bath
After two weeks of being at her new house, Liesel takes a bath. Rosa rewards her with a huge hug. (pg 35) -
Liesel gets instructions
After taking her bath, Liesel is instruced to call Rosa and Hans by 'Mama' and 'Papa'. (pg 35) -
Liesel's Nightmares
Every night, for months, Liesel had a nightmare about her brother. Hans would come into her bedroom to comfort her. (pg 37) -
Liesel's birthday
For Liesel's birthday, she is given a used doll that was missing a leg and had yellow hair. This was the best that the Hubermann's could do. (pg 40) -
Liesel meets Rudy and begins school.
Rudy Steiner and Liesel meet while playing soccer on Himmel Street. (pg 47) The two youngsters grow a friendship between them. Liesel and Rudy walk to school together each day. (pg 48) -
The Book is discovered
On this day, Liesel's nightmares have been going on for months. Tonight, Liesel wets the bed. Papa comes and cleans the bed, but the book is kept in the bed, and he discovers the book. -
Liesel learns to read
After discovering 'The Grave Digger's Handbook', Hans asks Liesel if she wants to read it. She of course says yes. The midnight sessions beegin. Liesel wakes up from her nightmare, and then Hans reads with her. (pg 65) -
Liesel began school again
When Liesel began school again, she was put in a class with kindergarten students. (pg 74) -
Liesel reads to her class
When Liesel's classmates have to do a reading, Liesel gets skipped over because her teacher knows that she can't read. Liesel volunteers anyways, and humiliates herself. She can not actually read the passage, so says something that she had memorized from The Grave Digger's Handbook. This results in a Watchsen. (pg 77) -
Liesel gets into a fight
After the humiliating attempt to read, Ludwig Schmeikl and Tommy Müller bully Liesel. Liesel does not like being bullied, so she gets into fights with both of the two boys. Liesel wins both fights, but gets a very long Watschen. (pg 79) -
PART 2
This is roughly the time that part two begins. -
Finish The Grave Digger's Handbook
On this night, Liesel had her nightmare about her brother. The midnight session begins. At around three o'clock in the morning, they finish reading The Grave Digger's Handbook. After the completion of the book, Liesel tells Papa what her brother's name was, Werner. (pg 87) -
Papa gives Liesel two books for Christmas
For Christmas, Liesel recieves two books from Papa. These books are called Faust the Dog, and The Lighthouse. Papa bought the books from a Gypsy. It cost eight cigarettes for each book. (pg 89) -
The first customer cancels from having Mama do their laundry
On this day, Liesel accompanied Mama to collect the laundry. When they arrived at the first house, the man informed Mama that he no longer needed her to do his laundry because they could not afford it. (pg 91) -
Liesel begins collecting laundry by herself
Once the first customer cancels having Mama do their laundry, Mama tells Liesel that Liesel will have to collect the laundry herself because people will not fire them if Liesel was the one the customers saw. (pg 92) -
Liesel's class begins to write letters
At school, the students begin to write letters. They must write to one friend, and somebody who is not in their class. Liesel chose to write to Rudy, and her Mama. But not Rosa, Liesel's real mother. (pg 95) -
Another customer cancels
The Pfaffelhürvers give Liesel a letter with apologies to Mama. (pg 97) -
Liesel's birthday
This year, Liesel recieved no presents for her birthday. Mama was very angry becasue she had told Papa to save one of the books that he gave to Liesel at Christmas, but he gave Liesel both at Christmas. (pg 98). -
Rosa's notices that some money is missing
After Liesel collected money for the laundry, she used some of it to mail the letters to her real Mama. Rosa noticed the missing money and asks Liesel what happened to it, and Liesel admitted that she had spent it. (pg 99) -
Hans Junior runs away
During the visit of Hans Junior and Trudy, Hans Junior becomes frustrated, and leaves the house. He never returns. (pg 105) -
Hitler's Birthday
To celebrate Hitller's birthday, there is a fire at the town square of Himmel Street. The residents burn books, magazines, anything that could burn. -
Liesel steals another book, The Shoulder Shrug
After the fire, men were clearing away the ash. Liesel was watching, and when the men reduced the pile, Liesel noticed some unburned books. She managed to reach one of the books that she could see before the men ushered her away. (pg 120) -
PART 3
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Liesel reveals The Shoulder Shrug
On the way home with Papa from the burning, Liesel revealed the book to Papa. (pg 125) -
Liesel becomes afraid to collect laundry from the mayor''s house
When Liesel stole The Shoulder Shrug, someone had seen her. She thought that it was the mayor's wife, Ilsa Hermann. She becomes afraid and reluctant to gather the laundry from the house of the mayor. (pg 132) -
Liesel is shown the library
When Liesel goes to collect laundry without Rudy, Ilsa invites Liesel inside. Liesel is reluctant, but when Ilsa returns with a stack of books, Liesel walks inside, and Ilsa shows her to the library. (pg 133/134) -
Liesel and Rudy steal apples
When Rudy and Liesel see Arthur Berg with an apple, they ask where he got it. They then join Arthur and his gang on a thieving trip to steal apples. (pg 152) After this excursion, they also collect potatoes and onions. (pg 161) -
Liesel and Rudy steal from Otto Strum
After observing Otto biking the same route for a month, every Friday, carrying a basket full of food to the church, Liesel and Rudy decided that Otto's basket would be an excellent target to steal. They created an ice patch on Otto's path, and when he hit it, he crashed his bike, allowing Rudy and Liesel to steal the basket. (pg 162/163) -
Arthur Berg moves
Before Arhut Berg moves, Liesel and Rudy are given chestnuts by Arthur. They then eat one chestnut each, and sell the rest. Buying candy with the money they make. (pg 165/166) -
Max leaves for Munich
On this day, Max boarded a train to seek the help of Hans Hubermann. (pg 157) -
Max arrives at the Hubermann's
Max arrives at the door of 33 Himmel Street. He is feeling selfish for showing up at this house and asking them to risk their lives to save his. (pg 169) -
PART 4
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Max eats pea soup
Rosa feeds Max pea soup on the night of his arrival. He eats too much for his empty stomach to hold, and he gets sick. (pg 197/198) -
Max moves into the basement
After grabbing Liesel's arm after waking up, and scaring Liesel, Max promises to sleep iin the bsaement instead of in Liesel's room. (pg 206/207) -
PART 5
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Liesel's Birthday
Liesel recieves another book, The Mud Men, from Mama and Papa for her birthday. Max says that he would have gotten something for her if he had known it was her birthday. (pg 221) -
Liesel is given The Standover Man
When Max had nothing to give to Liesel for her birthday, he took it upon himself to make her a book, about his own life. He called it The Standover Man, and gave it to her a week after her birthday, when it was complete. (pg 237) -
The Day Mares
Max tells Liesel about his day mares. Fighting against Hitler, the Führer. (pg 255) -
The Whistler
On this day, Ilsa insists that Liesel takes the book that she has been reading in the library, The Whistler. Once Liesel finally agrees, Ilsa gives Liesel the bad news; an envelope to cancel Mama's service. (pg 259) -
Liesel gives the book back
On her way home, Liesel became very angry at Ilsa. Liesel turned around and went back to the mayors house, and expressed her anger to Ilsa. She then gives The Whistler back to Ilsa. (pg 263) -
Rudy and Liesel steal The Whistler
After returning the book to Ilsa, and a craving for thievery, Liesel leads rudy to Grande Strasse, where the mayor's house is. After many unsuccessful visits, this time, the window in the library is open. Liesel takes the chance to steal back The Whistler. (pg 288) -
Viktor throws The Whistler into the water
When Rudy and Liesel were returning to their homes, Viktor and the stealing gang spotted Liesel and Rudy. Liesel had developed a habit of carrying The Whistler. When Viktor saw them, he came and snatched the book from Liesel. After Rudy trying to protest, Viktor threw the book into the river. (pg 302) -
Rudy retrieves The Whistler
After chasing the book in the river along the riverside, Rudy jumped in to grab the book. He finally reaches it. (pg 303) -
PART 6
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Snow in the basement
For the weather report on Christmas eve, Liesel brought in handfuls of snow for Max. The handfuls turned into buckets, and the snow turned into a snowman in the basement. (pg 313) -
Max falls ill
As a result of playing with the snow, Max falls terribly ill. (pg 313) -
Liesel gives Max presents
While Max is ill, Liesel visits him very often. The presents began with a flattened soccer ball, and in total, Liesel gave 13 presents. (pg 320-322) -
Liesel steals The Dream Carrier
Liesel and Rudy go on yet another stealing excursion to the mayor's library. Liesel steals The Dream Carrier on this excursion. (pg 327) -
Max finally wakes up
While Liesel is at school, Mama comes and 'gives her trouble' in the hallway. What she really tells Liesel is that Max finally woke up. (pg 333) -
NSDAP is searching for suitable air-raid shelters on Himmel Street
After bombings of other Germany towns, the NSDAP decide to prepare in case of an attack on Himmel Street. To do so, they need to check bbasements of houses for suitable air-raid shelters. When they check the basement at the Hubermann's house, they don't notice Max. (pg 339+345) -
PART 7
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Hans is painting blinds black
In order to add extra safety to Himmel Street, blinds were to be painted black so that at night, if a bombing were to occur, there would be no guidance as to where the homes were. Hans is a painter, so he and Liesel go to many houses to paint blinds. (pg 353) -
Track and Field day for Hitler Youth
For Hitler Youth, there was a track and field day. Every youth was expected to participate. Rudy did exceptionally well, placing first in three out of four events. The fourth race, he was disqualified. Liesel did not do quite so well. She didn't win a single medal. After the day, Rudy and Liesel are together, and Rudy leaves his gold medals for Liesel to have. (pg 362+364) -
Liesel steals the second book to her trilogy of happiness
Liesel goes on her own to the library today, and steals the second book to her trilogy, A Song in the Dark. (pg 365) -
Liesel completes the trilogy, and recieves a surprise
To complete her trilogy, Liesel steals The Complete Duden Dictionary and Thesaurs. This book was resting against the window to the library. On the way home from stealing this book, a letter fell out, adressed to Liesel. She reads it and is surprised to see that it is from Ilsa. (pg 366+369) -
The Sirens
Sirens signify a possible bombing attack. The sirens notify people to take cover in their designated air-raid shelter. This event turned out to be not a raid at all. This was the first night of hiding in air raid shelters for the Hubermann's and other residents of Himmel Street. (pg 371) -
A real raid
Liesel kept everyone in her air-raid shelter calm by reading to them. This was very successful, and they were safe before she could finish reading the chapter. (pg 382) -
The Parade of Jews
On their way to a concentration camp, Dachau, Jews were marched as a parade through Himmel street. Meny people gathered on ther street to watch the parade. (pg 392) -
Max Leaves
After Hans' generosity, giving the bread to a Jew, nobody could be sure as to wether a Nazi member would come and give a thorough search to their house. FOr these reasons, they agreed that it would be safest for Max to leave. (pg 397) -
PART 8
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Holtzapfel asks if Liesel will read to her
After Liesel's actions in the air-raid shelter, Holtzapfel asks Liesel if she would come and read to her. In exchange for the reading, Holtzapfel would stop spitting on the door, and would also give Liesel coffee. (pg 386/387) -
Hans gives the bread
During the parade of Jews, there was one Jew who was extremely weak and could barely walk. Hans was a very brave man, and gave this Jew a chunk of bread. The Jew was very grateful for Hans' actions, but Hans was whipped and beaten by a soldier. (pg 394) -
The coat men come
Hans was expecting them to come sooner or later. AFter being so generous to a Jew, he was sure he would be taken and ordered to go to the war. When he was the men come, he showed them exactly where he lived. It was not Hans they came for, it was Rudy. (pg 403) -
The Coat men ask to take Rudy
The purpose of the coat men going to speak to Rudy and his family was to take him away to a school. He was part of the aryan race. He was intelligent, athletic, and was German.Of course, the Steiners refused to sent Rudy with the coat men, and Alex Steiner recieves a whipping and beating for the refusal. (pg 419) -
A letter comes for Hans from the NSDAP
After Hans' incident with the Jew, the NSDAP finally accept him into the NSDAP. This was his punishment for his actions. (pg 417) -
Hans goes off to the war
After his letter of acceptance to the NSDAP, Hans goes off to the war. (pg 423) -
Liesel and Rudy go to find the Fuhrer
After their Papas leave, Liesel and Rudy go on an adventure tot find and kill the Fuhrer. They turn around when it begins to get dark. (pg 426) -
Hans' first raid
In late November, Hans had his first taste of an actually raid.(pg 433) -
Liesel and rudy do as Hans did
There was a small parade of Jews on this day. Rudy brought two bikes and a small bag with 6 pieces of bread, broken into quarters. They biked ahead of the parade, and tossed the bread onto the road for the hungry Jews to collect. (pg 440) -
Liesel gives Rudy a Christmas gift
For Christmas, Liesel takes Rudy shopping at the Steiner's shop. Liesel helps Rudy pick out a suit that he likes. Then Liesel gives him that suit for Christmas. (pg 454) -
Christmas day
For Christmas, Mama gives Liesel Max's journal. This is what Max had told Liesel that she would get when she was ready for it. It was titled The Word Shaker.(pg 443) -
PART 9
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Cookies
Liesel steals cookies from the library. She also steals another book, The Last Human Stranger (pg 459+460) -
Liesel is greeted by Frau Holtazpfel's son
When Liesel goes to Frau Holtzapfel's house to read, she is greeted by a man. This man, is Frau Holztapfel's son, Michael. He is here because his brother, Frau Holtzapfel's other son, died in the war, so Michael came to tell Frau Holtzapfel. (pg 465/466) -
Liesel gives back
Liesel felt really bad about taking the cookies and the plate from the library. She decided to give the plate back. She brought the plate to the door, knocked, and ran away. After this action, Liesel never had nightmares again. (pg 472/473) -
Hans' truck gets in an accident
Hans and his troop were in their truck on their way to the camp. Hans had allowed another man to sit in his seat. That was a very lucky move for Hans, unlucky for the other man. One of the wheels was punctured, and the truck rolled. The man in Hans' seat died, but Hans suffered only a broken leg. (pg 476) -
Papa's coming home
After the accident, Liesel and Mama recieved a letter from Papa. It explained what had happened, and stated that he was coming home, alive. (pg 179) -
The Bombing of Munich
These two days brought Liesel to read fifty-four pages out of her books while in the air-raid shelter. (pg 488) -
The Dead Pilot
After the bombing of Munich was finished, a samll fire and smoke was noticed near the river. Rudy went to see what it was, and Liesel followed. When they reached the source of the smoke, a plane and pilot was discovered. The pilot was alive, barely. Rudy placed a teddy bear on the pilots shoulder, the man thanked Rudy, then took his last breath. (pg 490) -
Papa arrives
A day delayed, Papa arrived home safely, with only a broken leg. (pg 492) -
PART 10
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Michael Holtzapfel commits suicide
He couldn't handle the pain anymore. He went to meet his brother, leaving behind his mother. (pg 504) -
Michael's funeral
At the funeral, Liesel read to the people who were bereaved. (pg 506) -
Liesel finds Max
In a parade of Jews, Liesel spots Max! They have a chance to exchange a few words before a soldier notices Liesel and whips Liesel. (pg 511) -
Liesel reveals the secret about the Jew that was in her basement
After the incident at the parade of Jews, Liesel tells Rudy about Max, and how he had been living in their basement. Liesel also shows Rudy The Word Shaker. (pg 517) -
Ilsa gives Liesel a journal
Liesel became angry one day while visiting the library, and she ruined one of the books. To apologize, Liesel wrote a letter, and in it she claimed that she would stop visiting the library. Ilsa goes to Liesel's house, and gives Liesel a black journal. Ilsa wanted Liesel to write her own story if she wasn't going to visit the library any longer. (pg 523) -
The End of Himmel Street
This day marks the end of many lives on Himmel Street. To be more specific, everyone but Liesel dies. The sirens rang much to late for anyone to get to the air-raid shelters. Liesel was lucky. She was already in her own basement. Although it was not a designated air-raid shelter, it saved her life. (pg 498+529) -
Liesel says goodbye
Since Liesel is the only survivor of the Himmel Street bombing, she says goodbye to all of her dead family and neighbours. She begins with Rudy. He finally gets his kiss. Next is Mama for she can't bear look at Papa yet. She told Mama some of the memories she had of Mama. Finally is Papa. She says goodbye to Papa by giving him his accordion, kissing his shoulder, and thanking him for all that he did for her. (pg 536-538)