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Karen E.
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Here are a few we've enjoyed recently (I'm including the summaries/reviews that I posted on my blog last week):
Boxes for Katje, by Candace Fleming
is a wonderful book. I think I first heard about it from Lissa (no surprise there) but somehow didn't get my hands on it until recently. It tells the story of a young girl in Holland. Amid post World War II devastation, Katje's family and her village struggle to stay warm and get enough to eat. Then one day, a box arrives from America. A little girl named Rosie is participating in the Children's Aid Society's effort to get badly needed supplies and food to thousands of Europeans. What happens after that is a testament to the generosity of the human heart. Katje and Rosie, though they live an ocean apart and have never met, indeed form a true, loving and enduring relationship.
Always Remember Me, by Marisabina Russo is based on the amazing true story of the author's grandmother, mother and two aunts and their separation during WWII. All four women survived, and were later reunited, after enduring the horrors of concentration camps and death marches. It is told so sensitively and so beautifully, within the framework of "Oma" sharing the story with her granddaughter.
The Orphans of Normandy, A True Story of WWII Told Through Drawings by Children, by Nancy Amis is another touching story based on real-life experiences. In 1946, the author's great-aunt came into possession of a journal, written and illustrated by little girls who had been forced from their orphanage home, La Maison du Clos, in Caen, France, in an effort to remain safe during the Allied invasion of Normandy. The 100 little girls, and their teachers, walked for more than two months, waving white flags all the way, before reaching the safety of Beaufort-en-Vallee, 150 miles away. The narration and illustrations in this book are the actual words and drawings of the girls.
Home of the Brave, by Allen Say I don't usually use words such as "sad, dark and haunting" to describe a picture book. But Allen Say's Home of the Brave deals with a sad, dark and haunting time in our country's history.
The book tells -- in beautifully rendered symbols, images and dreamlike sequences -- of a Japanese internment camp. A man, seemingly caught in a nightmare, encounters an abandoned camp and children who chant, "Take us home, take us home!" This was perhaps the most affecting image for me ... the children, and their sense of abandonment and desolation.
My girls were somber as we read. We had talked a little bit about what the camps were, but this was their first literary encounter with them. We talked a bit afterward about prejudice, discrimination, and even about current debates over racial profiling.
Home of the Brave is not a happy book, but it's an excellent one. I can't say I'm happy we read it, but I think it was important for us to do so.
[In the comments, I added, in response to Mary M.'s question about whether or not the book was just too strange for children: "It *is* sort of weird, but I don't think I'd call it a new-agey sort of weird. It was definitely disturbing, but as we've both said, it's a difficult subject. I wouldn't do this book with a young child ... certainly no need to put the images in those little heads.
But my older girls and I could, I think, appreciate the book exactly because of the way it was told. Rather than presenting facts, it dealt with what must have been the feelings of those imprisoned: confusion, abandonment, fear, loneliness, and the nightmare feeling that 'this can't be happening.'
I do think it's an extraordinary book."]
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On the list to read soon:
Tomie de Paola's I'm Still Scared
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Karen E.
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teachingmom
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OK, I just spent the last hour searching for WWII books for our upcoming study. The two pages I flipped back and forth between were your blog and my library's. If I'd looked here first, I'd have found all your recent suggestions on one page!
Thanks, Karen. I'm so glad you started this study the semester before I did. It saves me some work! 
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Erin
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I have recently read one called Baseball Saved UsIt deals with the people in America of Japanese descent being sent to internment camps during the war. The baseball diamond gives the internees a sense of purpose. This book shows the racism that the Japanese Americans faced at this time. Very thought provoking.
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MaryM
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As Karen knows, from my posts on her blog, we are into this topic as well. I don't have time to post some additonal books I would recommend, but I have cut and pasted an older post of mine about picture books on the Japanese-American Internment during WWII below. I'll add my other recommendations when I get a chance later.
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I grew up aware of the internment camps and take it for granted that everyone is familiar with this part of US history. One of the camps, Minidoka, was nearby in SE Idaho. My best friend in kindergarten was of Japanese-American heritage and her mother had been sent to a camp with her family when she was a young girl. And where my parents live now in Eastern Oregon is an area where many families settled after they were freed from the camps. We did a little mini-unit on the history of the interment camps. There is a lot of information on this "Teaching with Historic Places" site -War Relocation Camps. My older boys had read Farewell to Manzanar and the Journal of Ben Uchida several years earlier.
I focused on telling the younger ones about this time and found these picture books on the subject. (Being big baseball fans, we had read Baseball Saved Us before)
Flags-set in California neighborhood where a Japanese-American lived
The Bracelet (set in Tanforan Evacuation Center heading to Topaz Camp in Utah)
Flowers from Mariko (set in Arizona – either Poston or more likely Gila River)
Baseball Saved Us (setting: most likely Minidoka in Idaho)
So Far From the Sea (setting: Manzanar in California)
Under One Flag (setting: Rohwer in Arkansas)
Blue Jay in the Desert - Marlene Shigekawa (setting: Poston Internment Camp in Arizona)
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teachingmom
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I'm back from a library trip this afternoon and have a huge pile of WWII books. I've only had time to read a few so far.
I was able to pick up some of the books mentioned by Karen. Boxes for Katje, which we have enjoyed before but will revisit now with the older girls too. The Allen Say book - not sure I like the dream-like setting and not sure my girls will "get" it. The Orphans of Normandy, A True Story of WWII Told Through Drawings by Children, by Nancy Amis - looks great, interesting illustrations by the girls who lived it!
The Flag with Fifty-Six Stars: A Gift from the Survivors of Mauthausen by Susan Goldman Rubin - I'm leaning against reading this one with the girls, especially the 8 and under ones. Describes life in a concentration camp and could be very upsetting. Not to mention that one of the groups that are described as being persecuted by the Nazis is "homos**uals". I'd rather not have to explain that one yet. But the story is a good one for older children (this may be one of those picture books for teens) and the illustrations are well done.
Memories of Survival by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz and Bernice Steinhardt - This book is AMAZING! The illustrations are hand sewn panels done in stitchery, yarn, and fabric by the woman who lived through the holocaust in Poland. The authors are the Polish survivor and her daughter. This book also describes the horrors of the holocaust, with concentration camps, mistreatment of Polish Jews, hiding in fear, and the death of the author's family at the hand of the Nazis. But it's done with a page for each illustrated sewn panel and accompanying text and explanation. It will be unsettling reading, but I think this will be a good book to use to touch on horrors of the holocaust. You have to see these illustrations/panels!
Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot by Margot Theis Raven - I didn't realize until I got home that this is not really about WWII. It's about the Berlin Airlift that was a result of difficulties with the communist East in 1948. It's a beautiful story that chocolate-loving kids will identify with that offers an epilogue to WWII studies.
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Karen E.
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Mary and Erin -- Thanks for the Baseball Saved Us recommendation. Mary -- I had added it to my list right after you recommended it on the blog, along with So Far from the Sea, which you mentioned there.
I had already checked out Farewell to Manzanar and the Journal of Ben Uchida, for my older daughter to read.
Mary, what ages were your boys when they read Farewell to Manzanar?
Thanks for reposting your old post here. And, Irene, you have given me a bunch of new titles to look at, too. You guys are great, and so helpful. Thank you!
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Karen E.
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MarilynW
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I have finally typed up the draft of my WW2 unit study resources - I have lots of books and resources on there - I am just trying to figure out how to attach Word document.
Once I have it figured I will post in Rabbit Trails.
I still need to go through and review and also sort book by age.
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MaryM
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Karen E. wrote:
I had already checked out Farewell to Manzanar and the Journal of Ben Uchida, for my older daughter to read.
Mary, what ages were your boys when they read Farewell to Manzanar? |
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My oldest was about 10, but he was a very voracious reader and pretty mature. My next son read it when he was 12. When I read it, I was in eighth grade so must have been 13.
teachingmom wrote:
| The Allen Say book - not sure I like the dream-like setting and not sure my girls will "get" it. |
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Irene, I had the same feeling even though I hadn't read it - my opinions were based on reviews on Amazon and my library site. It didn't sound like I would like it. But after Karen's review I felt I did need to actually read it to see for myself. We got it yesterday (along with a few new WWII books) and I also found the "dream" aspect of it weird and unsettling for some reason. I think that if it had been clearly a dream or clearly a hallucination (based on hitting his head) I think it would have been okay, but the ending left it still uncertain as to what kind of experience he had. The use of the "kiva" ladder as the portal for the experience has connotations of Native American spirituality - interplay between spiritual worlds. In general it is my least favorite Allen Say book so far. Maybe I am biased also because I have read so many other WWII Internment camp books. There are other books that can convey this time period and experience to children realistically. I will say that I found the illustrations quite beautiful and even haunting which is powerful for discussing this period (they rate above many of the other books for illustrations). And the emotions of the children in this book are very strongly portrayed in the pictures - that I liked.
So that being said - I just got a new WWII Interment Camp book at the library (it always pays to revisit topics because of new publications!). A Place Where Sunflowers Grow was just published in 2006. It is a wonderful addition the other picture books I have read on the topic. The author has personal family history to relate to. The book is set in Topaz Camp in Utah where her mother's family was interned and based on their experiences. Her grandfather was an artist and started an art school in the camp as a way to bring peace and purpose to the experience. I'm sure it brightened numerous lives in the camp. The symbolism of trying to grow sunflowers in the Utah desert is poignant. Another neat aspect of the book is that it is bilingual - written in English and Japanese. In fact in one place where in the English text the grandmother says something in Japanese, in the Japanese text it is translated into English. My daughter was the one who noticed it and we thought it was really fitting.
Another very newly published WWII book (2007) is Wind Flyers - a picture book of the Tuskegee Airmen (America's first black military airmen). It is not very detailed but it is a beautiful introduction. Vibrant illustrations are punctuated by a text that makes you feel like you are flying along with them. Very fun story of a young boy who jumps off chicken coops and barn lofts to "fly," eventually becoming a Tuskegee Airman.
I am just discovering Louise Borden and I LOVE her books. She has several WWII books I would recommend.
The Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.E. Rey is a fascinating story. I had no idea of any of this as I read Curious George books. Beautifully illustrated and all around fantastic. Very informative about WWII experiences as well as a great history of the origins of that loveable little monkey.
Across the Blue Pacific is a state side story of a young girl, a neighbor to a young Naval officer who is on a submarine in the Pacific during WWII. It is a story of those who idolized these young men, who wrote to them and who grieved for them when they didn't return. Amazing period book and the fuzzy ink and watercolor illustrations definitely add to the feeling.
The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in World War II details the rescue at Dunkirk thought the eyes of a child which is the perspective through many of these books she has written. I think it really makes it very personal for our children as we read these to them.
The Greatest Skating Race is a WWII story from the Netherlands. Amazing story of bravery of young children and incredible feats during the war. I learned so much about an area I don't really know. In addition to the WWII info we found out about the Dutch, skating, and famous eleven town skating race - Elfstedentocht. Skating is so much a part of Dutch winters they even have specific words for things like walking on land in skates - klumen. I haven’t read Winged Watchmen yet (it's on the list) but think this is probably a good picture book go along to Winged Watchmen.
I will second Irene on Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot. It is a great book and we defineitly included it with WWII even though it is a few years after - it all relates to effects of WWII. And how many picture books are there of the Berlin Airlift???
Lisette's Angel is about a little girl in Normandy during the occupation and liberation. An American paratrooper lands in the little girl's field and she believes him to be an angel (and his parachute a star from which he falls). It touches on the hardships of war under the occupation and the human experience. There is ample opportunity to discuss how people's lives are affected by wars and ways in which they act or cannot act in that time.
Well, I think I've been pretty long winded - love this topic. Keep them coming.
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Molly Smith
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I don't think anyone has listed this book yet: The Feather-Bed Journey.
"It's a story about a little Jewish girl and her family in Poland during World War II. An dit is an account of the many people, Jewish and Gentile, who helped that girl along her way to survival."
We all loved it and it was just the right introduction to this topic for my ages--11, 8, 7. We also found Flowers on the Wall, but after a quick thumb-through I decided not to read it to the group. The story is beautiful, but ends very abruptly and tragically. I will have my 11yo dd read it, but not the 8 & 7 dss--my 7yo is very sensitive and isn't quite ready.
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Thank you for these suggestions!
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Rachel May
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I don't think I saw Hiroshima No Pika mentioned. It tells the story of a family who are in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped. It is powerful and moving. I read it with my kids 2 years ago, but I can see that some might prefer to save it for older kids.
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Karen E.
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Oh, the riches here! My library card overfloweth. 
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Karen E.
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Patty
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This isn't a book recommendation, but an interesting story. In, I believe it was the late 1990's, a group of high school girls began a class project. They researched the life of a woman, Irena Sendler, who saved many Jewish children. The girls wrote a play about this woman (which we have seen) and eventually they traveled to Poland to meet her and to perform the play! They have performed this all over the U.S. and in other countries. The play is called "Life in a Jar" because Irena Sendler wrote these children's real names on slips of paper and buried them in a jar. The children's names were changed for their own protection.
Check it out: www.irenasendler.org
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Karen E.
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Patty,
Thanks for this great resource! I bookmarked it and plan to check further into it. I think my girls will love learning more about Irena Sendler and this project.
Thanks for chiming in!
I'm going to cross post this on the history board, too.
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Karen E.
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teachingmom
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I have another one. The Unbreakable Code by Sara Hoagland Hunter. It's a wonderful book about the Navajo Code Talkers. Dh grew up on the Navajo Reservation, so this is a story of interest here. And my mother-in-law was visiting here the past two weeks, so she sat in on our read aloud for this book. She told about having real Code Talkers come to speak to the students each year at the elementary school where she taught.
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yabby
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MarilynW: Is there any chance that the draft of WW2 unit study resources is still handy? I would LOVE to have a copy as I'm putting one together now. I've already began a search and am now adding the books mentioned above to check out.
Thank you all for the great refrences...even if I am late.
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MarilynW
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yabby wrote:
MarilynW: Is there any chance that the draft of WW2 unit study resources is still handy? I would LOVE to have a copy as I'm putting one together now. I've already began a search and am now adding the books mentioned above to check out.
Thank you all for the great refrences...even if I am late.
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You can find it at the Rabbit Trails forum - here
WW2 Unit Study
I am just now going through and fine tuning for my kids - we have watched a lot of the movies already. We have also read some of the picture books. I have the Hands of a Child Lapbook on WW2 that the kids will be doing - this has many of the activities in the WW2 Activity Guide. We will visit the WW2 Memorial in DC - and possibly the Holocaust Museum(though I think this may be tough for the kids).
Let me know if you want specific information on any of the books - I have a lot of them and am sifting through right now.
We are also tying it in with a JPII Unit Study - we just watched the Ignatius Press dvd on JPII - awesome. It has a fair amount on the Nazi (and communist) occupation of Poland. We are also reading St. Teresa Benedicta and St. Maximilian Kolbe (Pauline press ) for both unit studies and their feast days are in August.
There is a WW2 movie list on the rabbit trails forum too if you are interested.
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yabby
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Thank you so much. I tried to look for that spot but couldn't find it.
Have you seen the freebies at CHC for "Heros of the Holocaust" and "JPII"?
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Kristie 4
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We read an amazing picture book last year dealing with WWII. I will have to look it up because I have forgotten the title  . However, I thought I would post anyways because we found the story so amazing. It is the story of a Japanese diplomat in (I think it was Poland) Eastern Europe. He wrote out many, many travellers visas for Jewish people that allowed them to escape through Japan.
I will look up the title....
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Kelly
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I know it's not a picture book, but my children, both small and large, have LOVED our read-aloud of the "Winged Watchman" by Hilda von Stockum. It is a wonderful WWII book. Highly recommended.
Kelly in FL
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4Real Forums : Picture Book Discoveries
Topic: WWII picture books
