Friday, June 6, 2014

On the Beaches of Normandy: Picture Books About WWII to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of D-Day







D-Day is a solemn day when American and other Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight the Nazi occupation. “More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitler’s crack troops.” (Source of quote: http://www.army.mil/d-day/). 

This picture book list commemorates the heroic and selfless acts of these soldiers, living and dead, whose names are lost in the passage of time. 

All the picture books pertain to events in the 1940’s and depict the struggles of living through one of the bloodiest and most terrifying moments of world history. 

My Daddy Was a Soldier by Deborah Kogan Ray (This was one of my favorite books to read when I was in elementary school). 

Nim and the War Effort by Milly Lee 

A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David Adler

The Greatest Skating Race: A WWII Story From the Netherlands by Louise Borden 

So Far From the Sea by Eve Bunting

The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse

Running With the Horses by Alison Lester 

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki

The Grand Mosque of Paris by Karen Gray Ruelle 

I Will Come Back for You: A Family in Hiding During WWII by Marisabina Russo



Please note that these books may be too graphic or emotionally overwhelming for preschoolers, but would perfectly suit older children such as those between the second and fourth grades. Since I have not personally paged through each of these books, I would suggest that you use your own judgement when choosing picture books based on your child’s developmental level. 

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