Day in the Life of a World War II Evacuee, A

This book provides a wealth of information through different kinds of writing and a great variety of illustrations. The story of two particular evacuees, Mary and Tom, who have to adjust to a new family, school and neighbourhood is told in large print at the top of each double spread. Smaller print contextualises what is happening to the children, including information about gas masks, rations, and the home guard; the open book boxes on each spread share some personal anecdotes. The colour artwork bringing alive the village environment and the annotated photographs and posters also feature a range of different kinds of writing There are good retrieval devices – index, glossary, timeline, books to read and sources of quotations. So this an excellent text not only to energise history lessons but also to meet the objectives of the literacy hour. It would be worth reading at least the narrative threading through first for sheer interest and enjoyment. The possibilities for talk and collaboration and the children’s own writing, including the writing of scripts, are considerable. Feelings about what happened are given a welcome emphasis. One child tells how she was last to be collected after the sorting. ‘Apparently my lady hadn’t arrived. I felt like the scrag end.’ This kind of anecdote and the picture on the front of a little girl standing, labelled, with her case and her teddy bear, make this book much more than a collection of interesting facts.