Here is an instance of kids making the news. Kids from World War II share their experiences in Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories a book published by National Geographic Children’s Books.
War is not an experience that our parents and other adults live through alone. Kids live through war too. Depending on what grade you are in you may have already read the experience of Anne Frank who lived and died during World War II or the story of Thomas Buergenthal, a young boy who survived Auschwitz (a prison camp for people just because they were Jewish, not because they did anything wrong). These are stories of children who not only lived during war times, but they were prisoners of war. Who could imagine that a child should live in a prison?
While that may seem years and years before your time, it wasn’t that long ago and many of your parents and grandparents remember stories from WWII and other wars since. They have shared experiences of their own that they could share with you. They have learned stories from family members or through the news of their time.
It is hard to think about living during war time but in reality we are currently living in a time of war or conflict depending on the news of the day. Kids in America and in the Middle East are both touched by the politics of today as were the children during World War II.
Around you may be someone who may have a family member that is in the military at this time. They could be stationed in the Middle East or somewhere else in the world. What kind of story do you think they could tell about growing up during a war? Some may even be growing up on a military base somewhere. Unfortunately, like Anne Frank and Thomas Buergenthal, there may even be children who are prisoners of war or suffering in some way.
To see war through the eyes of kids just like you read Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories. It is complete with stories from kids as they grew up during war and what their experience was. It tells the history of each in chronological order from the start of the war to the end and shares what happens to each kid after the war. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright writes the introduction and shares her story. Did you know that she grew up during the war in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and England? She is officially a news maker of today’s politics and one of yesterday’s wars.
It is more than just history. It is news.
Recommended reading for kids about war at your library or Amazon:
Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories
Who Was Anne Frank? (Who Was...?)
(For younger readers)
