Blitz: One Family’s War
Martin Impey is well known to teachers for the wonderful series about Ben and his best friend, Ray, and their wartime experiences which he created with Hilary Robinson. The richly detailed illustrations combined with the accessible text makes them perfect for sharing with children and deepening their knowledge and understanding of events during WWI. In ‘A Song for Will and the Lost Gardeners of Heligan’, the same team worked their magic once more, creating a book based on the true story of the gardeners of Heligan who went to fight in Great War. In ‘Blitz’, Martin has created another masterpiece of illustration and storytelling which is not only a compelling read, but also a real gift to anyone teaching this period of history.
Inspired by his childhood stories, Martin has created a powerful, engaging and brilliant book which reflects the level of precise, careful research Martin brings to all his work. Through the experiences of the family living at number 2, Dane Street in Bow, readers get a real sense of how their lives changed from before the war to the point at which two of the children are evacuated. A sense of immediacy is created, allowing readers to share their hopes and fears as they continue their daily lives amid the chaos and uncertainty of the Blitz.
I have no wish to imply that this is not a book for families to share and discuss nor for independent readers to thoroughly enjoy; however, as a teacher, it is impossible not to see the incredible value of a text like this in breathing life into lessons. At a time when much of the creativity and inspiration sadly seems to be being leached from the school day, books like this are essential!
There are many points at which role play, hot seating, freeze framing and other drama techniques could be used to explore the thoughts and feelings of those in the story, developing empathy, comprehension, prediction and perhaps leading to children creating narratives from different viewpoints. There are opportunities for writing diary entries, letters and poems as well as various types of factual writing, many inspired by Martin’s amazing illustrations. The book also lends itself to historical research techniques and using first and second hand sources.
There are so many details to notice in the illustrations which may lead children to pose questions for further investigation: Why is the train taking evacuees labelled ‘Pied Piper’? Is there really a road called ‘Sugar Loaf Walk’? Did people really spot unexploded bombs? Natural curiosity might lead to much additional discovery.
Evocative storytelling and stunning illustrations combine to make ‘Blitz’ an incredibly special book- and I can’t wait for the story to continue in ‘Evacuees’.
Blitz: One Family’s War
Martin Impey
Harbour Moon Publishing ISBN: 978-1916062535
You can read my review of ‘A Song for Will’ here, the Ben and Ray books here and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ here.
