soldiers

Saving Winslow

Sophie Rosen , , , ,

Creech, Sharon. Saving Winslow. New York: Joanna Cotler Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018.
Louie’s father often brings home small animals needing to be rescued. Most of the time, they don’t survive. Louie usually doesn’t have any better luck. The worms he brought home? Dead after two days. The lightning bugs? Dead after three days. But Louie – missing his older brother who is stationed far away as a soldier – is determined. When his father brings home a motherless mini donkey on a cold January morning, Louie decides that this time he will succeed: Winslow will live. Beautifully written and heart-warming, this 165-page novel is most highly recommended for animal lovers 8 to 12 years old.

P.S. Of course, all Sharon Creech stories are amazing works of art. But this one is outstanding in its introduction to themes to encourage conversation between children and adults. How can you love someone if you know they might disappear? How do you regain hope after loss? How can you joyfully help someone fulfill their purpose in life even though it means they will leave you? 

More challenging stories for readers ready for novels

More stories by Sharon Creech

More stories of friendship

More stories about soldiers

Two Roads

Sophie Rosen , , ,

Bruchac, Joseph. Two Roads. New York: Puffin Books, 2019.
Twelve-year-old Cal and his father, homeless, travel across America by rail. It’s 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression, and countless poverty-stricken men are clambering onto freight trains, hoping not to be caught by the guards. But Cal is caught – by a surprise. His father tells him that they are Creek Indians. And now he is going to join a demonstration in Washington, D.C. to defend the rights of World War I veterans, so Cal is being dropped off in Oklahoma to stay at a residential school for native Americans.  Joseph Bruchac, author of numerous novels and picture books, skilfully tells a story of grief and hope. Recommended for readers 11 years old and up.

Note: All books published by Puffin are well-written. All stories by Joseph Bruchac are worth reading.

More stories of indigenous people of North America

More historical novels

More stories set in Oklahoma

The true story of Winnie-the-Pooh

Sophie Rosen , , , , , ,

Walker, Sally M. Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2015.
Winnie-the-Pooh is a lovable bear who lives with his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. At least in the books. But who was the real Winnie?
This biography tells the story. Harry Colebourn, a Canadian veterinarian, adopted a bear cub which he took along when he was shipped overseas during World War I. Winnie became the regiment’s mascot, named after its hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. But when the soldiers were sent over to France, Winnie couldn’t go along. This picture book tells the story of what happened to the little bear and how it became famous.
Illustrated in pen and ink and watercolour by Jonathan D. Voss and accompanied by black and white photographs, this gentle book is recommended for all readers fond of the honey-loving ‘Bear of Very Little Brain.’

More stories of World War I

More biographies, including another biography of the real Winnie-the-Pooh