Remembrance Day and Veterans Day can be difficult for young children to understand. Reading age-appropriate stories help them understand history, the concepts of war, peace and gratitude. Here are some stories that I have read to my students to make November 11th more meaningful.
A Poppy is to Remember by Heather Patterson
This is a story that gives an introductory and age-appropriate explanation of November 11th for young kids and explains the wearing of poppies. Its simple text and beautiful pictures give it great appeal to all ages. There are notes added to the end, ideal for older children.
Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion by Jane Barclay
This is a touching story that young children really relate to. A grandfather answers his grandson’s questions about his days in the war as he lays a wreath for a fallen friend. He uses analogies to animals to explain his feelings from that time, (he had felt as ‘proud as a peacock’ in his own uniform decades before, and as ‘brave as a lion’), filling the little boy’s imagination with images.
In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCrae by Linda Granfield
This book is a beautifully illustrated, line-by-line walk through John McCrae’s famous poem In Flanders Fields. More appropriate for grade 2 students and up, it can be read as the original poem, line by line, along the bottom of each page with the beautiful illustrations or by reading each line and learning more about its meaning along the way.
In Flanders Fields is such a important part of Remembrance Day. I remember watching Linus recite it on a Peanuts T.V. special year after year. It seemed only fitting to include Linus’ recitation here.
For a free sample from my Remembrance / Veterans Day song, story and activity booklet, please click here or on the image below (and below that, a links to a free Remembrance Day / Veterans Day playlist for young children!
I hope this list has been helpful to you. Do you have recommendations to add? Please leave them in the comments! I am an Amazon affiliate and have included links to purchase these and related titles below. Please read my disclosure policy here.
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What do you do with your children or students to make Remembrance Day meaningful?
Here is what I focused on with my grade one and kindergarten classes when I was a classroom teacher, and two books that I have discovered since that fit in with it perfectly.
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A Poppy is to Remember is a GREAT book. I just read it to my class. Thanks for highlighting the others.
Thank you so much, Barb. I love that one, too. There’s nothing like a great story for making days like Remembrance Day memorable for kids.
I work on a nursery and we would love to get some new resources for remembernace
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