The Great War: A World War I booklist

This year we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I.  Though hardly an event worthy of celebration, World War I marked the true coming of age of the twentieth century, with strife experienced on a global scale.  Lest we forget, this selection of youngCanLit will cover many historical and fictionalized accounts of events during the Great War. If the title does not suggest the nature of the book's connection to the war, a brief description is provided.


Picture Books

A Bear in War
by Stephanie Innes and Harry Endrulat
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Key Porter Books
40 pp.
Ages 5-12
2009
(Reprint by Pajama Press, 2012)
True story of a stuffed bear that a young girl gives her father when he goes to fight overseas.

A Brave Soldier
by Nicolas Debon
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 8+
2002
A young man's enthusiastic enlistment turns to disillusionment with the horrors of war.

Bunny the Brave War Horse
by Elizabeth MacLeod
Illustrated by Marie Lafrance
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 7-9
October, 2014

Forget-Me-Not
by Maxine Trottier
Illustrated by Nancy Keating
Tuckamore Books
32 pp.
Ages 7-12
2002
A soldier returns from war and secludes himself on an island, only revealing himself slowly to a young girl who brings him food.

Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion
by Jane Barclay
Illustrated by Renné Benoit
Tundra
24 pp.
Ages 4-8
2009
A grandfather recounts his experiences in war as he and his grandson prepare to attend a Remembrance Day service.



 

Fiction

And in the Morning
by John Wilson
Key Porter Books
200 pp.
Ages 12+
2010
When his father enlists in 1914, a teen envies him the glory. But consequences of that experience and his own enlistment change the young man's perspective of war.

Brothers Far From Home: The World War I Diary of Eliza Bates, Uxbridge, Ontario 1916 (Dear Canada)
by Jean Little
Scholastic Canada
224 pp.
Ages 9-12
2003

Charlie Wilcox
by Sharon E. McKay
Stoddart Kids
240 pp.
Ages 11-15
2000
Story of a 14-year-old boy who accidentally boards a ship taking Newfoundland soldiers to the front, and finds himself an under-age medic in France.

Charlie Wilcox's Great War
by Sharon E. McKay
Penguin Canada
268 pp.
Ages 11-15
2003
Sequel to Charlie Wilcox, in which Charlie returns home to Newfoundland and must deal with the secrets he keeps and the tragedies they have all endured.

Dance of the Banished
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pajama Press
288 pp.
Ages 12+
August, 2014
The story of two Alevi Kurdish teens torn apart by World War I.

Daughter of War
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
210 pp.
Ages 12+
2008
Armenian genocide in Turkey during World War I.

Days of Terror
by Barbara Smucker
Puffin Canada
256 pp.
Ages 9-13
2008
A Mennonite family leaves the horrors of life in Russia in 1917 and heads for a new life in North America.

Fire in the Sky: World War I, Paul Townend, Over No Man's Land, 1916 (I Am Canada)
by David Ward
Scholastic Canada
224 pp.
Ages 8-12
2013
A young man's experiences as a fighter pilot.

Flying Geese
by Barbara Haworth-Attard
HarperTrophy Canada
256 pp.
Ages 8-12
2002
A family moves from the farm to the city of London, Ontario and deals with the difficulties of having a son and brother overseas.

Halifax Explodes! (Canadian Flyer Adventures #17)
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall
Maple Tree Press
96 pp.
Ages 7-10
2011

Irish Chain
by Barbara Haworth-Attard
HarperCollins
213 pp.
Ages 10-13
2002
A girl and her family experience the devastating effects of the Halifax explosion.

A Kind of Courage
by Colleen Heffernan
Orca Book Publishers
160 pp.
Ages 12+
2005
Effects of a young man's enlistment in 1916 on his family back home on the farm.

Lord of the Nutcracker Men
by Iain Lawrence
Delacorte Press
240 pp.
Ages 11+
2001
When his father enlists to fight in France, a boy recognizes how different war is from his play with toy soldiers.

Murder on the Ridge
by Ted Stenhouse
Kids Can Press
240 pp.
Ages 10-14
2006
An anonymous letter in 1952 suggests to a widow that her Blackfoot husband was murdered, not a casualty at Vimy Ridge as reported.



Nettie's Journey
by Adele Dueck
Coteau Books
216 pp.
Ages 9-13
2005
A Mennonite grandmother shares her life in Ukraine through World War I, the Russian Revolution and escape to Canada.

No Man's Land
by Kevin Major
Anchor Canada
264 pp.
Ages 12+
2001
Describes the men of the Newfoundland Regiment at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

No Safe Harbour: The Halifax Explosion Diary of Charlotte Blackburn, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1917 (Dear Canada)
by Julie Lawson
Scholastic Canada
249 pp.
Ages 9-12
2006

Penelope: Terror in the Harbour (Our Canadian Girl Series)
by Sharon E.  McKay
Penguin Canada
88 pp.
Ages 8-11
2001
The Halifax explosion.

Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk (Dear Canada)
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic Canada
243 pp.
Ages 11-14
2007

Rilla of Ingleside
by L.M. Montgomery
Ages 8-13
1921
New editions of this Canadian classic (including Tundra's 2014 edition at 384 pp., pictured here) tell of life on the home front in PEI for Rilla, Anne Shirley's youngest daughter.

Sabotage
by Karen Autio
Sono Nis Press
293 pp.
Ages 10+
2013
Spies, sabotage, internment and life on the home front in Port Arthur, Ontario.

Shot at Dawn: World War I, Allan McBride, France, 1917 (I am Canada)
by John Wilson
Scholastic Canada
201 pp.
Ages 13-17
2011
Horrific life in the trenches turns a shell-shocked soldier to desert.

Soldier Doll
by Jennifer Gold
Second Story Press
978-1-927583-29-6
256 pp.
Ages 13-18
March 2014
Travels of a doll originally created for a soldier during WWI.






Non-Fiction

At Vimy Ridge: Canada’s Greatest World War I Victory
by Hugh Brewster
Scholastic Canada
48 pp.
Ages 9+
2006

Desperate Glory: The Story of WWI (Stories of Canada)
by John Wilson
Napoleon
96 pp.
Ages 11-13
2008

From Vimy to Victory: Canada’s Fight to the Finish in World War I
by Hugh Brewster
Scholastic Canada
48 pp.
Ages 9-12
September, 2014

The Great War (Discovering Canada)
by Robert Livesey
Illustrated by A.G. Smith
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
90 pp.
Ages 9+
2006

Hold the Oxo! A Teenage Soldier Writes Home
by Marion Fargey Brooker
Dundurn
141 pp.
Ages 12+
2011

In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCrae
by Linda Granfield
Illustrated by Janet Wilson
Lester Publishing
32 pp.
Ages 9+
1995

In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCrae
by Linda Granfield
Illustrated by Janet Wilson
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 9+
October, 2014
New edition with new cover and additional text.

Lone Hawk: The Story of Air Ace Billy Bishop
by John Lang
Puffin Canada
97 pp.
Ages 13+
2011
Graphic novel biography.

Passchendaele: Canada’s Triumph and Tragedy on the Fields of Flanders
by Norman Leach
Coteau Books
48 pp.
Ages 14+
2008

A Poppy is to Remember
by Heather Patterson
Illustrated by Ron Lightburn
North Winds Press/Scholastic
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
2004

Remembering John McCrae: Soldier, Doctor, Poet
by Linda Granfield
Scholastic Canada
38 pp.
Ages 8-12
2009

Silent in an Evil Time: The Brave War of Edith Cavell
by Jack Batten
Tundra
135 pp.
Ages 10+
2007
Edith Cavell was a nurse who helped smuggle British soldiers back to England from German-occupied Belgium.

The Unknown Soldier
by Linda Granfield
Scholastic Canada
38 pp.
Ages 8+
2008

The War to End All Wars: The Story of World War I
by Jack Batten
Tundra Books
154 pp.
Ages 13+
2009

Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion
by Linda Granfield
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
48 pp.
Ages 8+
2005





Film

The Danger Tree
Directed by John McGreevy
Produced by Janice Tufford and Marilyn A. Belec
National Film Board of Canada
50 min.
Ages 15+
1997
History of the Goodyear family of Newfoundland, including the trials of sending sons off to war.

Far From Home: Canada and the Great War
Three part series
Morningstar Entertainment
300 min.
Ages 16+
2004
A three-part series covering Minister of Militia Sam Hughes, the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Canada's role during the last 100 days of WWI.

Winners of 2014 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards

Tonight, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, and the TD Bank Group announced the winners of the 2014 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards. (Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l'enfance et la jeunesse was announced days earlier in Montreal.)

The children's book awards include the following:

1. TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
2. TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award Sponsored by CBC;
3. Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
4. Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000) Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie;
5. Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000) Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation;
6. Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund;
7. John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) Sponsored by John Spray; and
8. Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000)  Sponsored by HarperCollins Canada.

Congratulations to the Winners in each category!

TD Canadian Children’s 

Literature Award

The Man with the Violin

by Kathy Stinson
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Annick Press

In the Tree House

by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Dušan Petričić

Kids Can Press

  Prix TD de littérature canadienne 

pour l’enfance et la jeunesse 

La plus grosse poutine du monde

par André Poulin

Bayard Canada

Marilyn Baillie 

Picture Book Award

How To
by Julie Morstad
Simply Read Books

Norma Fleck Award For 

Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

The Last Train: A Holocaust Story

by Rona Arato

Owlkids Books

Geoffrey Bilson Award for 

Historical Fiction for Young People

Graffiti Knight

by Karen Bass

Pajama Press

John Spray 

Mystery Award

Who I'm Not

by Ted Staunton

Orca Book Publishers

Monica Hughes Award 

for Science Fiction and Fantasy

Sorrow's Knot 

by Erin Bow

Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic

It was an exciting night for authors, illustrators, publishers, readers, and all of us who are interested in the best of youngCanLit. Hosted by CBC radio host Shelagh Rogers, the Canadian Children's Literature Awards at the Carlu in Toronto was rich with more personalities that I could even count. Some of the authors I can tell you I saw or with whom I spoke (in no particular order) included Lesley Livingston, Adrienne Kress, Rachelle Delaney, Vikki VanSickle, Rebecca Bender, L. M. Falcone, Maureen McGowan, Jocelyn Shipley, Jennifer Maruno, Sylvia McNicoll, Stephanie McLellan, Jennifer Lanthier, Mahtab Narsimhan, Catherine Rondina, Deborah Kerbel, Karen Bass, Erin Bow, Kathy Stinson, Rona Arato, Ted Staunton, Eric Walters, Helaine Becker, Wallace Edwards, Philippa Dowding, Ruth Ohi, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Allan Stratton, Andrew Larsen, Dušan Petričić, Patricia Storms, Julie Morstad, Frieda Wishinsky, Elizabeth Wennick, Natalie Hyde, Cary Fagan, Jo Ellen Bogart, Loris Lesynski, Bill Swan and Jess Keating. 

And a new award, the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, was announced, commemorating Amy's Marathon of Books (amysmarathonofbooks.ca), her endeavour to read one YACanLit a day for one year, having started January 1, 2014.  The new award will be handed out for the first time in 2015.

It was a glorious night of winners for everyone!

Mr. Frank

by Irene Luxbacher

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-435-0

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2014

Mr. Frank is a tailor, and one who has served many people through many decades by creating a wide variety of clothes, and Mr. Frank, the book, begins with the excitement of receiving a special "order for an outfit that made all the others seem rather dull."(pg. 6) From Mr. Frank's hand to the forehead as he receives the call, the order seems overwhelming. But the elderly tailor takes his time thinking about the fabrics and the design, the style and the fit, as well as comfort and playfulness.  This man is more than a tailor, he is a creator of dreams, albeit one with needle and thread.

And as Mr. Frank makes his decisions, he takes several trips down memory lane, first recalling his mending of uniforms from more than 60 years ago when he was but a child, to the suits he tailored as a young man, and then the wild outfits of the 1960's and 1970's.  As fashions and Mr. Frank's tailoring change with the decades, so too does Mr. Frank, going a little more grey and a little more perplexed by the trends, but always accommodating, and taking on a variety of orders.  But it is evident that Mr. Frank will be closing up shop after today, after he completes this most special of orders.  It will be his pièce de résistance.

Irene Luxbacher was inspired by her own father's tailoring to write Mr. Frank, and the respect and admiration she extends is evident in the depth of her illustrations.  Though there is an understated melancholy about Mr. Frank, as he wraps up his tailoring career with one last special order, Irene Luxbacher emphasizes the textures and colours of a full life of creating fashions for others.  From the patterned wallpaper and rug and the textured fabrics, to the bold patterns of the mod clothes of the 1960's, the details all tell of a richness of a life well lived.  There are collages of photographs with magazine pictures, drawings and pattern pieces that I suspect once graced the walls of the real Mr. Frank's tailor shop, as I believe do the wall photos in the residence to which he delivers this last outfit.  In a lovely homage to her father and to the relationships between the generations, Irene Luxbacher has created her own masterpiece for the ages, one that she and her readers will look upon fondly for many years too.

Naptime

by Iris de Moüy

Translated by Shelley Tanaka

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-487-9

28 pp.

Ages 2-6

September, 2014

I don't often review translations of books but there are always exceptions and Naptime by French illustrator Iris de Moüy, translated by Shelley Tanaka, is one of them.

Seems the young animals of the savannah are not interested in taking their regular naps.  From the zebra to the hyena, hippo, elephant, lion, rhino and cheetah, the young of the African grasslands each have some excuse or other for why they will not be taking a nap.  The petulance of these creatures is evident in their declarations similar to those echoed by children around the world.  Caregivers have all heard:  "I'm too big"; "I'm not a baby"; "I'm busy"; "I'll take a nap when I need one"; "No way!"; and  "You can can't catch me".  Children, yes.  Naptakers, not.

But a little girl takes it upon herself to get them to sleep, one closed eye at a time.  If frustrated parents are listening, somewhere, she declares that "And that's all there is to it!" but she may just as easily be declaring it for herself, wiping her hands off for a job well done. No more grumpy little ones to deal with now.

Through the few words of each animal's insolent statements, a solid message is sent and, in just as few words, the girl takes up the challenge and wins. One, two, three, done.  Similarly, the illustrations are solid and emotive.   A limited palette of black, yellow, green, and gray with the occasional red above or below defines the heat and heart of the savannah and its occupants.  And the broad strokes of the flora and fauna, as well as the font, are powerful in their simplicity, again much like the landscape Naptime depicts. A mighty message in words and art.

Guardian

by Natasha Deen

Great Plains Teen Fiction

978-1-927855-09-6

192 pp.

Ages 13+

October, 2014

Guardian is buried in death, haunted by ghosts and plagued by bullies, youthful and not.  But Natasha Deen guards against wallowing her readers in the sobriety of these elements and instead pens an intricate plot that lacks any predictability, even that which we expect with death.  

Seventeen-year-old Maggie Johnson lives with her father, the local undertaker, in Dead Falls, and she sees dead people.  Actually she sees those confused dead who need her help to let go of life.  Her dad knows about her "gift" and her best friend Nell knows about Maggie's "woo-woo" feelings, but the teen has enough strife with bully Serge Popov that she's definitely not going to let this little secret out.  Unfortunately, when a creepy radio poltergeist sends Maggie to a deserted old mill to find Serge's murdered body, she can't help but become involved, especially when she finds his ghost inexplicably tied to her, 

"...the one person he hated most in the world, and it struck me as funny. Hilarious. Karma was a bitch, but she has a dark sense of humour and I was laughing at the punchline." (pg. 51)

But, it's not until Maggie visits Serge's girlfriend, Amber, and learns the girl is thrilled with Serge's death, and that his parents, the Reverend and Mrs. Popov, plan to have his body cremated without a service, as though he'd never existed, that Maggie actually reveals to Serge that she can see and hear him.  Though relieved that he still has a voice with someone, even Deadhead as he calls her, Serge needs to know what happened if he is ever to move to the next world, wherever that may be.

Luckily Dead Falls is a small enough community that Maggie's innocent (?) sleuthing generally looks like nosiness and gossip. She learns much through her friends including her crush Craig MacGregor, the captain of the water polo team on which Serge played, as well as from her father's love interest, the sheriff Nancy Machio. But it's Serge's reactions and commentary with her visits to those who knew him best (like Amber, his parents, etc.) that elicit the most revealing of secrets, some which Serge is not ready to have exposed. And I did mention the threatening poltergeist that continues to send creepy messages to Maggie, right?

"Help Serge or be killed by the poltergeist. Help Serge and possibly be killed by his psychotic father. What a set of options." (pg. 196)

Guardian is at its heart a murder mystery, albeit a paranormal one, and a superb one at that. But it defines itself with its characters whose thoughts and actions are unpredictable, as are most of ours, and with their development as they learn new things about themselves and others.  Even for Serge, a truly nasty bully, there is hope. And Natasha Deen's writing is a blend of smart dialogue and brisk action that effortlessly takes the reader looking for the "who" who did it. She has a real knack for creating the right atmosphere for friendly discussions and creepy scenarios, as well as thoughtful moments and teen angst.  And Natasha Deen has a wit that seems to infuse her words (or rather those of her characters) taking the edge off frightening elements. Everything is believable (even the poltergeist and Serge).

I don't know what Natasha Deen has in store for Maggie after Guardian but there is a perfect set up here for a sequel, not to complete the story but to examine how Maggie's psychic nature and her relationship with Craig both develop, and I look forward to reading about both.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  

Consider watching the book trailer for Guardian that Natasha Deen posted in August (I've included it here) and taking a look at her website www.natashadeen.com for more about the author and her writing.

Book Event: My Granny Loves Hockey, and Murilla Gorilla (Pointe-Claire, Quebec)

YA author

  Lori Weber

Photo by Marilyn Gillespie

will be launching her first picture book

My Granny Loves Hockey

Illustrated by Eliska Liska

Simply Read Books

978-1-927018-43-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

October, 2014

on

Sunday, November 16, 2014

2:00-4:00 p.m.

at

Livres Babar Books

Pointe-Claire, Quebec 

Also in attendance will be 

picture book author

Jennifer Lloyd

with her newest book in her Murilla Gorilla series

Murrila Gorilla and the Hammock Problem

Illustrated by Jacqui Lee

Simply Read Books

978-1927018477

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

August, 2014

Whether hockey-loving grandmothers or a detective gorilla for emergent readers is your preference, this book event has something for young readers.  And it's a great opportunity to get a signed copy of great #youngCanLit for your child or another loved reader and chat to two Canadian authors about their books and writing.