It is an important story and, taught properly in the classroom, can be a good study for fourth grade.  But your question is asking for opinions and hopefully more people will chime in with theirs.

Mine is "yes" - that the book (properly taught and handled in the classroom) is appropriate for 4th grade.  I do think, however, that it would work better in 5th grade or later.

I asked my 11-year-old (5th grade) daughter this question and her answer was, "Yes, if the kid is somewhat mature, knows something about World War II, and takes things seriously.  It is a sad but serious book."

The school systems have taken pains in the last decade to reform reading requirements to include topics that students can emotionally connect with. One of the biggest debates since the 90's has been about Reading history books of facts, or factual books about history. When a student reads The Diary of Anne Frank in high school, it is used to augment a history lesson. When a 9 year old reads it, they are at a cognitive stage where they can understand that the holocaust was bad, but they are begining to develop the capacity to think critically about it. Reading the personal story of Anne Frank is a great way to have young children feel a connection to a piece of history, while they learn to digest the socio-polictical implications of the time.

I instinctively side with you. There are plenty of years left for reading that book. I see so much literary pretension in the schools. Whom are the teachers trying to impress? Read the short books, the fun books. It'd be a rare young kid who asks to read this book. I suggest showing the child 6-8 good books and saying, "Pick the one you want to read." If a child demands Frank, okay, maybe that's all right. I'm not sure. But required?? Sounds compulsive to me. Ninth grade sounds about right, at the earliest! Still, I'm impressed your child is in a school where fourth  graders CAN read such a book. That's good news.

I read the book in my fourth grade class and it did not seem to affect me or any students around me in a negative manner. I believe the subject should be learned at an early age so children will understand the seriousness of subjects surrounding WWII and the Holocaust.

Well considering cable television today and it's lack of concern for what our kids see..most folks would say go ahead,personally because of some of the detail and sexual content I feel this is too much to impose on the minds of 4TH graders. There's plenty of time to learn tragedy later in their lives. I'm certainly not negating the importance of teaching children about the Holocaust and that we must never let that happen again. I would prefer my grandchildren wait a few years. Thanks June