Linda GranfieldBesprekingen

World War 2

Canada

Includes sheet music for the song with multiple verses. It is a biography of Newton. It includes just a bit of the history of the song after he wrote it. End papers show a map of the slave trade triangle.

A shorter version of the DK Eyewitness series, suitable for a slightly younger audience. It's roughly organized chronologically, with topics covered in a single spread. Scrapbook style illustrations and photographs are a bit distracting but are relevant and informative. With an index.

This book tells the story of the famous WW1 poem, "In Flanders Fields." It contains the poem text, illustrated competently by Janet Wilson. Interspersed with the picture book is information on John McCrae, how he came to write the poem, and what happened to him afterwards. My only criticism of the book is the editorial decision to break up the poem with the biographical content. Otherwise, it's an excellent elementary level WW1 resource.

⤑ research tag: in an effort to organise my shelves, I'm going to be labelling the books I'm using for study purposes as I tend to dip in and out of these.

The trench line with its bunkers and grimy faces there
Where if you were observant, you saw the burnt-out stare.
The pathway from the trenches that led to no-man's land,
A torn and barren piece of ground, destroyed by human hand.

Letters and poems by veterans. Worth a read.

71.3

In Flanders Field, by John McCrae, opens with the haunting poem In Flanders Field and is followed up with other poems, mostly of war and with it death. McCrae captures the essence of the World War I in his work. The second part of the book contains some history of the man and several diary extracts.

McCrae was schooled as a physician, but served in the Second Boer War as an artillery officer and further served in World War I as an artillery officer before being moved to hospital duty. He preferred the big guns to working the hospital.

A short book, but very worth the read if you are interested in World War I or first hand impressions of war in general.

aA scrapbook of WWI. I thought it would have more to do with the actually poppy of the War, but not so much. Either way it was a great review of The Great War with many primary source diaries, pictures, etc. 46 pages

A beautifully illustrated book using the poem by McCrae, the World War I surgeon and poet. Interspersed with the lines from the short poem are pages describing the war, and a short biography of the poet. Hand this to everyone today.
I read an article in the Washington Post today about the poppies and why they appeared in the fields so abundantly. Apparently the bombings and trench digging brought the long dormant seeds to the surface where they flourished. If only they hadn't been.

Shaking my head at the library's decision to discard again. Wow. This was so well done. I learned the following stuff from this book that I should have learned in either public school or college:

* About the origins of the poem "In Flanders Fields" (to which I hadn't even been exposed; can you believe it?) and its impact.
* About poppies and their connection to WWI (NEVER KNEW)
* An important date to remember...why don't we remember?
* Everyday issues of a soldier in WWI
* Warfare stuff I cared little about, but think is interesting now that I've learned it.

I feel that this is really important history, a matter of cultural literacy at the very least, and I feel compelled to pass this along.
This stunningly illustrated and well-written book ends with "Lest we forget." Man...we really did forget. Mission accomplished McCrae, Granfield, and Wilson. Fortunately, I predict that this is just right for my jr. high kids, so the message won't end here. Thank you.

I was expecting a lot more from this picture book for older children. It is the story of a modern-day Canadian Forces soldier injured in Afghanistan by an IED. The actual identity of the soldier and the nature of the injury are not revealed until the end. This is a surprise and one of the book's positive features.

The Road to Afghanistan is also the story of soldiering in the generations of one Canadian family. The narrator's great-grandfather, a farm-boy from Alberta, went off to the Great War, a grandfather fought the good fight in the least morally ambiguous of recent wars: World War II, and now the soldier has returned from Afghanistan, forced by injury to take a new road in life.

Don't get me wrong: the bare bones of a good story are here. However, the author skirts around a modern day soldier's motivations for joining the military at all. The soldier/narrator says that the reasons for enlisting are "a story in themselves"--a tantalizing, but unsatisfactory aside to the reader. From what a number of military people have told me, it seems that many join when young and at loose ends. Wouldn't it have been interesting if Granfield had explored an idea like this with kids?! Instead we have yet another story of a sacrifice made--and for what?

I can't help reading any war-themed book for children (or adults for that matter) without thinking of eminent Jungian psychologist James Hillman's remark "Ah war...how we love it." It just wouldn't go on if we didn't love it. In his book A Terrible Love of War, Hillman describes how war provides people with a sense of moral clarity and purpose--a sense of the heroic. Until something else can fill that psychological need, I suspect it'll just go on and on.

The Road to Afghanistan could have been a good deal better if the author had had the courage to reveal something of the young soldier's (possibly confused reasons) for joining up.

Having said all of this, this book might be a good discussion starter in a Canadian upper elementary classroom. No doubt it will be read in all kinds of Canadian classrooms right before Remembrance Day. And so it goes.

I should add that I'm a big admirer of Granfield's other nonfiction works on Canada's role in the big wars of the last century. I feel, however, that she missed the mark here. I hope she tries another fiction piece for kids that will actually address some of the thornier issues

Between 1863 and 1935, the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street in New York City was home to some 7000 families, mostly new Americans from many parts of the world. The building has been restored to late nineteenth century condition by the Tenement Museum, an initiative spearheaded in the 1980s by historian and social activist Ruth Abram and co-founder Anita Jacobson.

This book, in photographs and narrative, tells the story of several immigrant families in the squalid apartments here. The book is well laid-out and expands on the information on the virtual tour, but—honestly—the website is more interesting.

There is a 97 Orchard Street Cookbook for which I had rave recommendations from both Buried in Print and Nan at Letters from a Hill Farm.

If you’re in NYC, check the home page for information about live tours.

Read this if: the virtual tour intrigues you. 3 stars

97 Orchard Street is a tenement building on the lower east side of NYC. It was the home of hundreds of immigrants to America from the mid 1800s until 1935. Today this building is the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. This book is a small souvenir book for children that tells the story of 4 families that lived in the building and the story of immigration to the neighborhood. The stories are accompanied by photographs, some supplied by the families. There are many photographs of the refurbished rooms in the museum, taken by Arlene Alda.
This is a companion piece to another book I plan to read for the Immigrant sub-challenge for the GeoCAT - [97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement]

“I remember Korea” is a collection of short stories as told by the Korean War (1950-1953) veterans from USA and Canada. It also includes a map of Korea, chain of events at the beginning of each chapter, an overall timeline at the end of the book, glossary of military terms used, as well as an interesting introduction, foreword and afterword describing the background and aftermath of the conflict. I found this memoir to be really well written and the stories chosen for the book are truly interesting, some heartbreaking and some heartwarming, and most of all showing the different sides of a war, different aspects of any conflict. I had both tears in my eyes and a smile on my face while reading it. I would recommend it to all interested in war stories as well as in current affairs, as a background book for the ongoing North Korean issue.

What Am I? By Linda Granfield, illustrated by Jennifer Herbert is a children’s non-fiction book. It is aimed at the grade level between kindergarten and grade 2. The genre this book covers is humor. The subject it covers is riddles and a guessing game aimed at youngsters to help them become familiar with objects seen in everyday life. The format is in large, clear black text; and, clear, colorful and bright illustrations which support the content of the story book. Each page begins with “What am I?” and it then proceeds to be followed by short sentences describing the clues of the object, and finally it states “Can you Guess?” only to be followed by a list of five possible choices. Each of the five possible choices is illustrated on the depicting page. After turning the page, the correct answer is revealed along with a brief description of the object and an illustration. This book presents simple and everyday life objects a young child may encounter, such as: bicycle, backpack, doughnut and so forth. Young children will enjoy this book because it involves a lot of participation; and children enjoy the thrill of riddles and surprises. The importance of this book is to develop analytical and observational skills in children. I recommend this book for young children as it is a great book which gets the children to use their skills and get them participating.½

The young boy character asks puzzling questions of the listeners, to pick which object he is describing based on the clue he gives. The illustrations are a great tool for guessing his object. It's simple and colorful, but would be hard to use in a classroom because kids would have to get close to the book to look at all the "guessing items". The clues are nice and easy though.

May be good for younger storytimes. Riddles are super easy, with multiple choice. You can go with or without the multiple choice options.

This book is a guessing book for small children that engage their minds in a guessing game of which object the page is describing with clues.
I thought this book was great for getting the children to put their “thinking caps” on. The children can actively engage in this book like it is a game with clues. The illustrations provide the clue options and right as you turn the page, the mystery is solved. This book holds children’s attention spans as they are eager to find out if their guess is right!
I would definitely use this in my classroom and would probably try to get the children to help me make some sort of game using the book as our inspiration.

This book is divided into 13 brief sections where the Lower Eat Side Tenement Museum in New York City is re-created into apartments at 97 Orchard Street. This book familiarizes students with families who lived in this building which housed immigrants from the mid-1800’s to its closing in 1935. The building has now been preserved into a museum and is open for guided tours, providing glimpses into the crowded and uncomfortable condition of the tenants who came from many nations
but all of whom were poor. This book is great when covering the history of immigration from Europe to America. This book has won awards such as: Books for the Teen Age/ Voice of Youth Advocates.

A nonfiction guide to Canada's electoral process, intended for ages 10 to 14. Third edition revised 1997. Written in an accessible style that younger kids can browse, suitable for grades 3 to 8 I would guess. The basic electoral process is explained clearly, with interesting facts and examples in side-bars, and cartoon-like illustrations. I find it interesting myself! A good reference for kids at election-time, whether civic, provincial or federal.
Amazon description: "Kids get a close-up look at the political process and explore all aspects of an election -- from the day Parliament is dissolved to the day after the polls close. Granfield charts the evolution of elections to the present day, when a candidate's media image can make or break the campaign. Canada Votes let kids in on how voting lists are now compiled electronically, what issue the last national referendum decided and more."

Lesson 14 - The Constitution