Archive for War

Pax

Written by Sara Pennypacker
Illustrated by Jon Klassen

Holding on and letting go are strong desires, flowing under all the plots and subplots of this beautiful story about a boy and his pet fox.  When Peter’s father enlists to go off to war, he forces his son to set the fox loose in the wild and go live with a grandfather. It doesn’t take long to realize Peter isn’t wanted by the grandfather.

Within days, Peter realizes he needs to rescue Pax before he starves in the wild. So, he sets off on his own across miles of unknown territory. Without realizing it, he is heading toward the war zone. He encounters many problems, and a very strange woman.

Meanwhile, Pax waits patiently for his boy to come back for him. Finally, unbearable thirst sends him off searching for water. Real wild foxes growl warnings to stay out of their area. Will they accept him?

The adventure with challenges thrown in provides just the right pace of tension and intrigue to the story and will keep the readers flipping pages to find out what happens.

The language of the fox is put into italic font to separate it for young readers.

Black and white sketches by Jon Klassen add to the realities of the starkness of war and separation.

Teachers, librarians and parents will enjoy this novel as a read aloud or book club selection to share with their children.

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  • PaxTitle: Pax
  • Author: Sara Pennypacker
  • Illustrator: Jon Klassen
  • Publisher: Balzer& Bray/HarperCollins, 2016
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 276 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-06-237701-2
  • Genre: Fiction
  • Grade level: 3 to 7

The Day My Father Became a Bush

Written by Joke van Leeuwen

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In this completely offbeat novel, the reader has a chance to learn about all the concerns of refugees. The author is able to give subject a light touch by showing the world through the eyes of a child. Children don’t look at war the same way an adult would.

Toda lives with her father and grandmother on one side of the border. Her mother lives on the other side of the border. As her father prepares to go to war, Toda learns with him about the various ways a soldier can use the landscape as camouflage – thus the title. Her father plans to become a bush and protect himself from the fighting. The fighting closes in on their home, so, for her protection, Toda is sent to live with her mother. But the journey is anything but easy. The bus she’s on makes unexpected stops. People try to adopt her. People helping her get captured. She loses her mother’s street address. But Toda maintains her good humor and realistic view of the world throughout.

The frequent drawings, allegedly by Toda, are whimsical and sometimes reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut.  “There was a picture in the book of a soldier who had disguised himself as a bush.” Literacy skills are reinforced by the language barrier created by the border and various other reasons Toda must think about what people really mean. Fourth graders and older readers will cheer for Toda and wish her well.

  • Father Became a BushTITLE: The Day My Father Became a Bush
  • AUTHOR: Joke van Leeuwen
  • PUBLISHER: Gecko Press, 2014
  • REVIEWER: Sue Poduska
  • ISBN: 9781877579486
  • FORMAT: Hard cover, 104 pages
  • GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, War, Refugees
  • USA PUBLICATION DATE: April 1, 2014

Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front

Written by Suzanne Collins
Illustrated by James Proimos

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Suzanne Collins knows of what she writes in this story of a little girl whose beloved Daddy is sent away to war for a whole year. It happened to her in 1968 when he was sent to Vietnam.

James Proimos’ illustrations show the wonder and confusion of a small girl and her understanding of the war. All she knows is that daddy is going to a jungle and it is okay because she knows jungles from cartoons. At night she dreams of flying to the jungle with her cat to see daddy.

But how long is a year, really? For a child, it lasts forever. All the holidays come and go, but still daddy is not back. He sends postcards, sometimes. Then he sends a birthday card to the wrong child. The main character begins to understand how bad things must be at a war for a daddy to make such a huge mistake as getting the kids’ birthdays mixed up.

Suzanne shows clearly how the words a neighbor or news broadcaster say can change the child’s view of circumstances. The child becomes scared only when told to by what others around her say and do even when all of Daddy’s post cards are desperately trying to keep her days normal. When he comes home and she is still afraid, he tells that most soldiers do come home and Mommy is always with her. Her cat is a wonderfully stabilizing presence in the book and gives daddy a safe thing to write to her about.

While this is supposedly a storybook for four year olds and older, it is also a story for grown- ups. It will help them to relate to children in clear and helpful ways. Maybe it is mostly for grown-ups to share with children who have a parent, grandparent or other close friend off at war.

The most beautiful line in the book is on the first page and repeated on the last. It also exemplifies the main character. “Even though he always feels afraid, he is really the bravest of all. And that’s what makes him special.”

An important literacy skill that this book would help teach is the difference between reality and fantasy. How is a real jungle different from a cartoon jungle?

It also illustrates the passage of time by using symbols of holidays. “Shamrocks, but no postcards. Colored eggs, no postcards.” Students could think of other symbols that represent particular times of the year.  Also, the picture clues in this story are very relevant. Proimos uses the cat illustrations to help delineate the sizes of souvenirs that daddy sends. How big is the doll? Well, in the picture she stands eye to eye with the cat.

The book could be used by middle school teachers and librarians as an introduction or example of writing an autobiography based on an early memory.

This is a very moving and important book on many levels all about waiting and wondering and being okay.

  • Year of the JungleTitle: Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front
  • Author:  Suzanne Collins
  • Illustrator: James Proimos
  • Publisher: New York: Scholastic Press, 2013
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
  • ISBN:  978-0-545-42516-2
  • Genre: realistic fiction/ autobiographical fiction/war fiction