Proud As A Peacock, Brave As A Lion, by Jane Barclay, ill. Renné Benoit
Remembrance Day is nearly here, and it is a day that often opens up some difficult questions. This beautiful new book gives some answers about what it was to go to war, though it avoids getting into much discussion of the details of what wars are and why they happen – things that parents will likely want to put their own slant on. Instead, it is a calm, somewhat (fittingly) melancholy look back by a veteran.
Sam and his grandpa are talking as they prepare to join a veterans’ parade on Remembrance Day, and Sam’s got questions. The conversation is affectionate and gently probing, and it works well to draw out his grandfather’s experiences of war as a young man. His grandpa’s thoughtful answers use animal sayings frequently to help explain about feelings, which work as a nice touch here, and are carried into the illustrations, where ghostly animals walk beside them.
Nudged on by his grandson, Poppa talks about why he joined the army, how he felt in his uniform, and how he felt during fighting times. The war itself is glossed over as being “guns and fire and smoke,” but Sam knows that his grandfather sometimes has a bad dream, and sees him cry as he places a wreath for a lost friend, telling his grandson that a war is something you never forget.
A nice balance is struck between neither glamorizing nor maligning war itself, and the emotions of the book are clearly muted by time, leaving a solemn, respectful, but sad mood that suits the grey day and the strains of a bugler playing in the rain.The effect is spot on, and a perfect way to talk with a child about November 11th.