REMEMBRANCE DAY READING LIST
In honour of Remembrance Day, we reflect on the sacrifice that many have made through the stories told in these books. These books are sure to introduce you to some unlikely characters and how they made an impact during unprecedented times.
The Eleventh Hour
Goldstyn, Jacques
Jim and Jules are childhood friends, born on the same day in the same village. All their lives, Jim has been first — born two minutes before Jules, always faster, always stronger. When the First World War breaks out in Europe, the two young men enlist in the fight with 30,000 other Canadians.
On the Front, conditions aren’t epic and glorious but muddy and barbaric. Here, too, Jim is the first to attack. Jules is always two minutes behind: lagging in drills, missing the boat, handed chores instead of honors. On November 11, 1918, Jim and Jules are sent out to fight one last time. Jim, always first over the top of the trench, is shot and dies at 10:58am, two minutes before the Armistice takes effect at 11:00am.
Inspired by true events, this picture book is a simple, poignant, thought-provoking story to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Armistice in 2018.
Sergeant Billy
The True Story Of The Goat Who Went To War
Messier, Mireille and Reich, Kass
During World War I, a goat named Billy was adopted by a platoon of soldiers and made his way across the ocean to be part of the war effort.
Billy . . .
- Trained with the soldiers
- Was smuggled across the ocean
- Got snuck into the frontlines in a box of oranges
- Ate some secret documents and was arrested for treason
- Got trench foot
- Head-butted soldiers into a trench and saved them from a shell
- Came back home a decorated war hero
This charming true story follows Sergeant Billy from his small prairie town to the trenches of World War I and back, through harrowing moments, sad moments, moments of camaraderie and moments of celebration. This unforgettable goat and the platoon that loved him will capture your heart!
Finding Winnie
The True Story Of The World’s Most Famous Bear
Mattick, Lindsay and Blackall, Sophie
During World War I, Captain Harry Colebourn, a Canadian veterinarian on his way to serve with cavalry units in Europe, rescued a bear cub in White River, Ontario. He named the bear Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war.
Harry Colebourn’s real-life great-granddaughter Lindsay Mattick recounts their incredible journey, from a northern Canadian town to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England . . . and finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made a new friend: a boy named Christopher Robin.
Gentle yet haunting illustrations by acclaimed illustrator Sophie Blackall bring the wartime era to life, and are complemented by photographs and ephemera from the Colebourn family archives.
Our recommended reading is made possible by our partnership with McNally Robinson Booksellers. Visit your nearest McNally Robinson Bookstore in person or online to secure a copy of the titles listed above.
