Military Parents
Easy Books
All Those Secrets Of The World
Jane Yolen, (E) Little, Brown, c1991. 32 p. When four-year-old Janie’s father goes off to war, the rest of the family moves to the grandparents’ on the Chesapeake Bay, where Janie learns a secret of the world which helps her understand her father’s long absence.
Captain Cat
Syd Hoff. (E) HarperCollins, c1993. 46 p. A cat makes friends with a soldier and learns about military life when he joins the army.
Coming On Home Soon
Jacqueline Woodson (E) ; illustrated by E.B. Lewis. New York : Putnam’s, c2004. After Mama takes a job in Chicago during World War II, Ada Ruth stays with Grandma but misses her mother who loves her more than rain and snow.
If You Listen
Charlotte Zolotow (E) A mother reassures her little girl there is a way to know that someone far away loves you.
The Invisible String
Karst, Patrice; Stevenson, Geoff. (E) DeVorss Publications, c2000.
The Kissing Hand
Audrey Penn (E) Child Welfare League of America, c1993. When Chester the raccoon is reluctant to go to kindergarten for the first time, his mother teaches him a secret way to carry her love with him.
My Daddy Is A Soldier
Kirk Hilbrecht. (E) New Canaan Pub. Co.,2003, c2002. 32 p. Color picture book for young military families show how Daddy’s job is important.
Oliver’s Game
Tavares, Matt. (E) Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Mass. c2004. Oliver Hall loves baseball. He loves the ritual of helping out in his grandfather’s store, Hall’s Nostalgia, and he loves listening to Grandpa Hall’s innumerable baseball stories. But one day, Oliver makes a startling discovery. It seems his grandfather has kept one very special story a secret: his own. With stunning black-and-white and sepia-tone illustrations and a heartwarming narrative, Matt Tavares portrays one man’s lifelong love of the game, and the enduring legacy he passes on to his grandchild.
Over there
Williams, Dorinda Silver; Gilliam, Brenda (P). Zero To Three 2006. Children express feelings about their father being away on deployment.
When Dad’s At Sea
Mindy L Pelton. (E) Emily’s dad is in the military and sometimes he has to leave for months at a time. Emily knows her dad’s job is important, but she doesn’t want him to leave. Written by the wife of a Navy pilot, this realistic story is complemented by Steele’s stunning paintings.
While You Are Away
Eileen Spinelli (E) Hyperion Books For Children, c2004. Three children describe how they feel when one of their parents is away.
Junior Fiction
Love You, Soldier
Amy Hest. (JF) New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, c1991. 47 p. Katie, a Jewish girl living in New York City during World War II, sees many dynamic changes in her world as she ages from seven to ten waiting for her father to return from the war.
Soldier Mom
Alice Mead. (JF) Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999. 151 p. Eleven-year-old Jasmyn gets a different perspective on life when her mother is sent to Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the Persian Gulf War, leaving her and her baby half brother behind in Maine in the care of her Mother’s boyfriend.
YA Fiction
Operation : Homefront
Caroline B Cooney,. (YA PB F) Bantam,1992. 211 p. When President Bush calls up troops to fight Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, the Herrick family faces a terrifying reality. Their mother, Rosalys, is shipped to the desert. The three children and their dad have to deal with more than what to have for supper.
Junior Non-fiction
Mommy, Don’t Go
Elizabeth Crary. (JUV 306.874 CRA) Parenting Press,1996. 30 p. Illustrates the use of problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and conflict resolution through an example of mother-child separation.
One Thousand Tracings : Healing The Wounds Of World War II
Lita Judge. (Juv 940.5314 JUD) New York : Hyperion Books for Children, c2007. The author describes her family’s efforts to help their friends and others who were left homeless and hungry in the aftermath of World War II.