The Great War: Stories Inspired by Items from the First World War

by Various, Michael Morpurgo, John Boyne

Overview

In a powerful collection, eleven internationally acclaimed fiction writers draw on personal objects to bring the First World War to life for listeners of all ages.

A toy soldier. A butter dish. A compass. Mundane objects, perhaps, but to the remarkable authors in this collection, artifacts such as these have inspired stories that go to the heart of the human experience of World War I. Each author was invited to choose an object that had a connection to the war—a writing kit for David Almond, a helmet for Michael Morpurgo—and use it as the inspiration for an original short story. What results is an extraordinary collection, illustrated throughout by the award-winning Jim Kay and featuring photographs of the objects with accounts of their history and the authors' reasons for selecting them. A blend of fiction and real-life events, this unique anthology provides young readers with a personal window into the Great War and the people affected by it, and serves as an invaulable resource for families and teachers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501216008
Publisher:	Candlewick on Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	04/28/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	10 - 15 Years

About the Author

Jim Kay is the illustrator of Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, for which he won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, and George McGavin’s Bugs. He studied illustration and worked in the archives of the Tate Gallery and the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, two experiences that heavily influence his work. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/01/2015
Gr 5–8—At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, Germany and the Allies signed the truce ending the Great War, as World War I was then called. Here 11 authors—Tanya Lee Stone, Marcus Sedgwick, David Almond, Timothée de Fombelle, A.L. Kennedy, Ursula Dubosarsky, Michael Morpurgo, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, Sheena Wilkinson, and Adèle Geras—have each contributed a short story built around an artifact from the era, including a helmet, compass, recruitment poster, and Christmas Tin, to introduce the time period to middle grade students. In Sedgwick's "Don't Call It Glory," for example, a young boy learns about shrapnel lodged in a withered oak tree since the English downed a German airship. The historical fiction pieces come to life in the rich voices of performers Nico Evers-Swindell, JD Jackson, Gerard Doyle, Richard Halverson, Sarah Coomes, and Nick Podehl. VERDICT Each of these stories, so full of genuine human history, will leave listeners asking for more and enliven and enrich their studies of the First World War.—Mary Lee Bulat, Harwinton Public Library, CT

School Library Journal - Audio

★ 02/09/2015
Eleven authors mark the centenary of WWI with original short stories that are simultaneously poignant, thought-provoking, and relevant. David Almond, Michael Morpurgo, Ursula Dubosarsky, Marcus Sedgwick, and others anchor their fictional narratives around objects specific to that time—the nose of a zeppelin bomb, a wartime butter dish, etc. In A.L. Kennedy’s stream-of-consciousness narrative, “Another Kind of Missing,” a child relates his visit to his recuperating soldier father; half his face is gone, but “the men and women at the Tin Noses Shop.... will make him a mask.... And no one will be able to tell the difference from how he was.” And Tanya Lee Stone’s “A Harlem Hellfighter and His Horn,” written in verse, follows an aspiring musician who takes up with bandleader James Reese Europe, eventually joining the famed infantry regiment (“There was no question about it for me./ I followed Europe to/ Europe/ without taking a beat”). Kay’s haunting b&w illustrations bookend each story, exploding into pointy geometric shapes that recall shrapnel. Explanations of the featured objects conclude this evocative, potent anthology. Ages 10–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

The stories ... say something profound about memory and loss and what it means to wage war. ... Each story, lovingly crafted, shows a different facet of war in the same way that each artifact reflects something different about the time. ... Black-and-white illustrations by Kay and photos and descriptions of each artifact complete the whole. Extraordinary.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Eleven authors mark the centenary of WWI with original short stories that are simultaneously poignant, thought-provoking, and relevant.... Kay’s haunting b&w illustrations bookend each story, exploding into pointy geometric shapes that recall shrapnel. Explanations of the featured objects conclude this evocative, potent anthology.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Each of the 11 original short stories in this superlative collection about WWI has been inspired by an object evoking the conflict.... Haunting black-and-white illustrations by Kate Greenaway Medal–winning illustrator Jim Kay reinforce the stories' somber mood and cumulative power. This book is both beautifully designed and beautifully written.
—Booklist (starred review)

As there are no living World War I veterans to tell their stories, this profound collection may be as close as some readers will get to truly understanding the emotional devastation of one of the world’s bloodiest wars. ... An essential purchase for public and school libraries, particularly those needing to update their World War I collections.
—School Library Journal

A stunning anthology of stories . . . atmospheric black and white illustrations by the Greenaway winner Jim Kay, and a nice use of typography and layout make this book even more special.
—WRD magazine

Readers will likely discover resonant offerings among this collection.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The writers of the short stories in this collection use different styles, forms, and genres, including poetry. The stories will prompt readers to question the impact and damage—not only physical—that can result from war, and encourage them to consider whether anyone benefits from it.
—Literacy Daily

This book is a compelling portrayal of the psychological, emotional, and physical impact of war.
—School library Connection

From the Publisher

One hundred years ago, the Great War was raging. To today’s teens, it sounds like ancient history; yet that war has affected us ever since. To honor the participants, eleven distinguished authors have written stories, each inspired by an object from World War I, including a soldier’s steel helmet and a government-issue butter dish to justify rationing. The writers are mainly English—a few are Australian, Irish, American, and French. Though each story is different, most are about civilians on the home front (from 1914 to 1918), coping with wartime conditions and loss. Some take place after the war; one character is German—a lingering angel or ghost. Two reflect the role of women: in “Maud’s Story,” Adéle Geras tells of a girl who, through wartime work, is liberated; Sheena Wilkinson’s “Each Slow Dusk” is about a young woman who longs to attend university, but finds she will be the one to stay home and care for her severely wounded brother. In A.L. Kennedy’s heart-breaking “Another Kind of Missing” (inspired by a soldier’s compass), readers meet a boy navigating the hospital where his wounded father lies shattered. The boy desperately insists that his father’s face can be reconstructed: “He will be like himself, only better. Everyone will see.” Vivid writing evokes the conflicted Irish, Australian boys obsessed with warring toy soldiers and a young French girl who learns to read only to discover that her father has been killed. The collection is enhanced by Kay’s arresting black-and-white illustrations; some are double-page spreads of soldiers, battles, and weapons like tanks and submarines, while other pages are accented with sharply pointed shards cut from other pictures. War facts, photographs of the historic artifacts, and information about each author help make this volume of fiction more compelling than any textbook. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft; Ages 14 up.

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

Ten short stories and one poem written by a group of international authors for young people and illustrated by Jim Kay comprise this emotional tribute to those who were lost during World War I. Told through the eyes of young children and teens, each entry is inspired by a relic from that time in history. A Brodie helmet, a compass, a recruitment poster, sheet music, a butter dish, and a French toy soldier provide inspiration and augment the theme of the futility and despair of war. An elderly lady’s pencil box souvenir from a long-ago lover killed in the trenches helps convince teens in 1950s Ireland that a peaceful existence is more meaningful in “A World That Has No War In It.” “A Harlem Hellfighter and His Horn” recounts, in lyrical poetic format, the story of a group of musicians who left New York to fight the Germans. “Captain Rosalie” is five and hiding with permission in the rear of a rural English schoolroom while her mother works in a war factory; she longs for a Victoria Cross to honor her imaginary spying. These stories and others do not all have happy endings, but rather, portray the brutality of the destruction of young men’s lives before they even occurred. This book belongs in every library as a reminder that the artifacts which did survive beyond the grave can inspire powerful anti-war statements. Reviewer: Judith Hayn; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, February 2015 (Vol. 37, No. 6) - Judith Hayn

03/01/2015
Gr 5 Up—Last year marked the centennial of the start of World War I. This collection of short stories, with chapters by acclaimed British authors, including Printz winners Marcus Sedgwick and David Almond, is a timely choice. Each tale is inspired by actual artifacts from the time (an army helmet, sheet music, a compass) and focus on the British participation in the war. In the exceptional "Another Kind of Missing" by A.L. Kennedy, a young boy narrates the story of his father who has returned from war with severe facial injuries. David Almond's "A World That Has No War in It," tells the story of how writing with a soldier's pencil ended a deadly feud between two Irish families. And in Sheena Wilkinson's "Each Slow Dusk," a teenage girl realizes she will have to sacrifice her college plans in order to care for her wounded brother. Interspersed throughout are Kay's haunting illustrations and at the end of the compilation are photos and descriptions of the items that inspired the stories. As there are no living World War I veterans to tell their stories, this profound collection may be as close as some readers will get to truly understanding the emotional devastation of one of the world's bloodiest wars. VERDICT A solid purchase for public and school libraries, particularly those needing to update their World War I collections.—Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ

School Library Journal

★ 2014-12-22
A group of celebrated writers, including Michael Morpurgo, A.L. Kennedy, David Almond and John Boyne, reflects on simple artifacts from World War I to create a collection of short stories. The items themselves are simple, even mundane. A wartime butter dish. A compass. A school magazine. But the stories themselves, ranging in setting from the apex of the war to its centenary now, combine each small treasure with a child's point of view to say something profound about memory and loss and what it means to wage war. In Timothée de Fombelle's "Captain Rosalie," a small girl imagines herself a secret spy as she works to uncover the code that will let her read her father's letters. Tanya Lee Stone's story in verse, "A Harlem Hellfighter and His Horn," takes readers from America's racially divided cities to Belleau Wood, where a young musician learns that "Maybe making something of yourself is as / simple / as…walking, no / marching / straight into the center of / fear / all while playing a horn." Each story, lovingly crafted, shows a different facet of war in the same way that each artifact reflects something different about the time. Perhaps most moving is Tracy Chevalier's "When They Were Needed Most," in which a small boy's theft of a cigarette from a Christmas package meant for soldiers becomes the very thing that saves his father's life. Black-and-white illustrations by Kay and photos and descriptions of each artifact complete the whole. Extraordinary. (Short stories. 8 & up)

Kirkus Reviews