Annabel Lee Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Does anyone have any recommendations for non-fiction books on 20th century wars (WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam in particular) appropriate for an 8yo boy? I'd prefer to leave some of the atrocious details out at this age, or leave them a little vague anyhow. Cartoony-type books like Liberty's Kids are OK, or books focusing on different makes of planes/tanks/etc. :patriot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 My boys have a couple books--Rand McNally Color Illustrated Guides World War II Airplanes, Volume 1 and Volume 2. These are really cool! I think they got them from their grandpa, not sure. The date inside is 1978. DK has books about the different wars that are for kids, so they aren't atrocious, but very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooh bear Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I know that these are fiction books, but they were first book in the series was published in 1932. The author originally published 98 books, but so far 16 of them have been republished. Biggles Think of your typical Englishman from the 1930's, who is a fighter pilot. You can buy the books at Book Depository Biggles: The Camels are Coming is the first one in the series. My ds 8 nearly 9, loves these books. If you like the looks of that book, I can give you a list of order they go in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooh bear Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I have looked at these books, but they do look interesting Where Poppies Grow War Game: Village Green to No-Man's Land War Boy: A Wartime Childhood The Little Ships WWII for Kids The First World War Second World War Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 I know that these are fiction books, but they were first book in the series was published in 1932. The author originally published 98 books, but so far 16 of them have been republished. Biggles Think of your typical Englishman from the 1930's, who is a fighter pilot. You can buy the books at Book Depository Biggles: The Camels are Coming is the first one in the series. My ds 8 nearly 9, loves these books. If you like the looks of that book, I can give you a list of order they go in. Yes, those look great! Ds came over to the computer and likes the looks of the one on the wiki page. I would like to get that list from you, if you don't mind. I really like that they're not terribly expensive. :D I think I'll get some of the Rand McNally & DK books on topic from the library. If he grows an ongoing insatiable interest then I'll put down the $$ to purchase some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooh bear Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 The reprinted Biggles books in order are: Biggles: The Camels are Coming Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor Biggles of the Fighter Squadron Biggles Learns to Fly Biggles: The Black Peril Biggles Flies East Biggles in France Biggles and Co Biggles Flies West Biggles Goes to War Biggles: The Rescue Flight Biggles in Spain Biggles Defies the Swastika Biggles Defends the Desert Biggles Fails to Return Biggles Delivers the Goods I really love Book Depository. Free shipping to the USA, and here in FL I get them in a week. The original Biggles books can command very high prices, so don't even try looking for the original books, unless you wan to spend big money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Here are some Modern period books for that age. Eve Bunting is a great resource for picture books about sensitive historical topics. Terrible Things by Eve Bunting is about the holocaust. The Wall - by Eve Bunting is about traveling to DC to find Grandpas name on the Vietnam memorial. How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz is about a family displaced by WWII. The Legend of the Teddy Bear by by Frank Murphy is a bit before the time you wanted, but is sweet. Eddie Rickenbacker: Boy Pilot and Racer is about a WWI Ace would probably be appealing to this age. For more factual on WWII, The Good Fight: How World War II was won by Stephen Ambrose is probably the best I have seen. Franklin D. Roosevelt for Kids: His Life in 21 activities. by Richard Panchyk is good. It has most of the same activities as the WWII for kids books, but focuses on a broader time frame. You could also spend some time on some things like the Wright brothers and the history of flight or the Harlem Renaissance so that it isn't all about war. My husband is half Korean, and I'm always looking for kids books about Korea. I don't think I have ever seen one about the Korean War that is appropriate for this age. However, my kids' favorite Korean folk tale is the Tiger and the Persimmon. There is also a great little book called Bee-Bim Bop that has a recipe for a Korean dish with the same name. Most kids books skip the first world war. The only viable resoruce I have found is the DK encyclopedia of WWI (they also have one for Vietnam). Other than that and the book about the flying ace, there only seem to be books about In Flander's Fields which is a good poem to learn. I went through a lot of these resources when I was teaching 20th century history to my ds during his high school years. It is hard to determine how detailed you want to be about the wars. Hopefully that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 (edited) My husband is half Korean, and I'm always looking for kids books about Korea. I don't think I have ever seen one about the Korean War that is appropriate for this age. I was recently looking at this book on-line. Just wondered if it may be one that would be appropriate? http://www.amazon.com/Korean-War-First-Book/dp/0531156559 This one looks very interesting to me! http://www.soentpiet.com/peace.htm Edited May 17, 2009 by Brindee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I haven't read these yet, but we have a couple that look appropriate that are part of Biblioplan's year four history course. There are two by Tom McGowen that we have--World War I and The Korean War. I think I saw on Amazon that he did a World War II book too, but Biblioplan uses Ambrose's The Good Fight mentioned earlier. These are small thin paperbacks--about 60 pages with lots of photos and maps. Definitely written for kids. At first glance they look pretty good to me. I think they are OOP. I found them used pretty cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I think it would be for older kids, but probably not for my girls. The preview pages show photos of fields with dead bodies. That's one of the problems with the more modern wars - they are better documented. A story that mentions of Romans conquering their neighbors and taking the survivors as slaves is somehow much more remote than a photograph. I might order that book to see the rest of the pictures to get a better idea of when to introduce it. I will have to cover modern history eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 General Resources: - Usborne 20th Century -- color illustrations; captions -- non-graphic, general info - The Complete Book of World History -- color illustrations; non-graphic text - Spies! (Pratt) -- gentle "stepped reader" WWI - factual - Sergeant York and the Great War (Skeyhill) -- a Greenleaf book - Sergeant York: His Life Legend and Legacy (Perry) -- a Greenleaf book - Flying Aces of World War I (Gurney) - Medal of Honor Heroes -- Landmark biography - America's First World War: General Pershing (Castor) -- Landmark biography - Bold Leaders of World War I (Reider) -- Landmark biography WW1 - historical fiction - Hero Over Here -- historical fiction; WW1 homefront and the flu epidemic - Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree -- historical fiction; WW1 homefront - Gay Neck, Story of a Pigeon -- WW1 carrier pigeon WW2- factual - The Story of Anne Frank (Martin) -- gentle "stepped reader" biography - D-Day Landings: Story of the Allied Invasion (Platt) - Great Escapes of World War II (Sullivan) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: The Battle of the Bulge (Stein) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: USS Arizona (Stein) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: Iwo Jima (Stein) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Battle for Iwo Jima (McGowen) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Battle of Midway (McGowen) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: D-Day (Stein) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: The Manhattan Project (Stein) WW2 - historical fiction - The Little Riders (Shemin) - Twenty and Ten (Bishop) - Number the Stars (Lowry) - Snow Treasure (McSwigan) -- read aloud Korean War - factual - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: Korean War Veterans Memorial (Stein) Vietnam War - factual - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: the Saigon Airlift (Kent) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: the Vietnam War Memorial (Kent) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: The Vietnam Women's Memorial (Kent) - Wall of Names : the story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Donnelly) Cold War - factual - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: Cold War (Foster) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: Cuban Missile Crisis (Clinton) Persian Gulf War - factual - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: The Persian Gulf War (Foster) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 War Horses by Morpurgo Twenty & Ten by Du Bois You might look at www.amblesideonline.org for ideas also. They have excellent reading list. The above books might be a bit easy. Not sure what level your 8 year old is on.... however, they are stories (historical fiction) of survival and experiences in WWI (horses/calvary facing tanks and barbed wire) and WWII (children helping hide several Jewish children). OOPS... just read OP again.... these may not be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I have been using an Usborne book called The World Wars with ds. It is internet-linked, and quite comprehensive. It covers both world wars and the period in between, helping to show the aftermath of WWI and what led up to WWII. Another great resource for WWI is the movie "Sergeant York" with Gary Cooper. This is a great movie! (Christian content.) There's a book called Sergeant York and the Great War; Veritas sells it. Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Landmark books are upper elementary/middle school reading level. They are factual, written by good authors, and not gory. There are many about WWI and WWII. The one about Adolph Hitler is quite good and is written by William Shirer--same journalist who wrote Rise and Fall of the THird Reich. The Landmark book is very accessible to its target reading audience. I don't think there is one about Viet Nam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Why would you choose this for an 8 yr old? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elw_miller Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 This might be a good support text for a study of WWII. It includes Theodor Geisel's editorial cartoons as well as discussions of the occurrences which prompted the cartoons. Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel. by Richard H. Minear Art Spiegelman (author of Maus I and Maus II--comicbook-style stories about the author's dad, his relationship with his dad, and his dad's story, a survivor of the concentration camps, and probably NOT a book suitable for a 10-year-old) wrote the introduction. Dr. Seuss' editorial cartoons are mostly okay--some are graphic, but then, it is about war and bloodshed. http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Seuss-Goes-War-Editorial/dp/156584565X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Here are some books for the younger set that I've bookmarked for that time period that are war related. High Flight: A Story of World War II by Linda Granfield The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland The Wall by Eve Bunting War Game: Village Green to No-Man's Land by Michael Foreman In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCrae by Linda Granfield Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion by Linda Granfield War Boy: A Wartime Childhood by Michael Foreman The Greatest Skating Race: A World War II Story from the Netherlands by Louise Borden The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in World War II by Louise Borden The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey Because my husband is a soldier, I'm careful to stay away from anything too scary for the kids and plan to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Retirement is 5.5 years away and our study of modern times is 6 years away thanks to starting with a two year American history cycle. I do like some of these storybooks because they tell about the war without being too graphic. I like the ones that emphasize heroism and valor and, at the younger ages, I just wouldn't do any that go into any detail regarding battles, casualties, strategies, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 The Greatest Skating Race is a good WWII picture storybook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Why would you choose this for an 8 yr old? This is not the time period we are on - we are on Ancients this year. He has asked to study the wars that his great grandpa and papa were in. I don't want him exposed to the gory photographic history of wars of the 20th century. There are more than enough great suggestions here for me to get from the library and preview for appropriateness for him. I don't want to squash his interests - esp. this, when it is intertwined w/ world and family history. My dad has set aside some time to answer questions and talk with him about these things. My grandfather (dad's dad) flew airplanes back & forth from AK to Russia in one of the World Wars. My dad has old photos of his dad by his plane, etc., that ds would like to know the stories behind. I don't think what I've got in mind here is questionable for an 8 yr old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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