War Boy: A Wartime Childhood

Noted children's writer/illustrator Michael Foreman recaptures his childhood in wartime England in this charming, evocative book, a 1989 relase from Arcade Publishing. It offers a captivating look-back at a time and a place now far gone. Foreman grew up in Pakefield, a fishing vilage on the coast of Suffolk. This area saw its share of air action during the war, bombing raids making up several drawings in WAR BOY. (An incendiary bomb actually went through his house). Foreman's illustrations of those raids - the AAA guns firing off, incendiaries burning in the street and German aircraft sweeping overheard - bring the war to vivid life. Yet other images show children playing in a shelter, a stretch of beach once a playground for residents now mined and blocked off with barbed wire, customers 'having a cuppa' at his mother's shop, barrage balloons floating in the sky, military parades, the arrival of the first Yanks and so on. The book ends with the ghostly image of an English youngster dressed as a native American and the evocative words that "the memory of those who passed through our village on the way to war will remain for ever with the ghosts of us children in the fields and woods of long ago." In many ways, WAR BOY is a priceless treasure. Its vivid imagery and poignant commentary presents a fascinating and heartfelt portrait of wartime England. Highly recommended.

For American kids also born in 1938 as was Michael Foreman we only thought we suffered under the stress of War. This book, with its beautiful illustrations,and graphic descriptions from a child's point of observation, is both poignant and funny in its depiction of the war.

Too often we ignore the genre of children's books when studying history. Much is the loss for us. In his book, 'War Boy: A Country Childhood', British author and illustrator Michael Foreman tells about his early childhood years in wartime England with lovely watercolor-and-ink paintings and a simple and endearing text. Foreman and his mother and brothers live in the small fishing town of Pakefield, on the English Channel. On this section of coast, the British have erected coastal defenses, wired off the beaches, and encouraged all non-essential civlians to leave. Foreman's mother, who runs a small shop in Pakefield, chooses to stay. As a result, Michael's very early years, from maybe two or three to four or five, are lived virtually on the front of the British beachhead. Many soldiers and sailors move into the village and surrounding area, and many of these men spend time drinking tea and visiting in the Foreman's little store. They shower young Michael with the attention they would lavish on their own distant children, teaching him how to act like a little soldier. Michael's growing up is at once idyllic and harrowing, and the illustrations make this point. The paintings of the rolling fields and blue skies of England are alive with color, but so are the paintings of the Luftwaffe bombings. In these, the terrifying images take on a surreal loveliness. Foreman also saved memorobilia from his war years, such as the cigarette cards he collected that tell how to properly wear a gas mask, or how to make a bomb shelter, or the notice warning civilians to leave the area. These add to the historical nature of the work. Foreman recounts, mostly in the paintings, the warmth and love of the fighting men--Czechs and Scots, Brits and Americans, who pass through his life in the war years. Many of them, he realizes, would never see their own families again, but would simply disappear forever on some distant battlefield. In fact, the interesting characters are what really give the book its heart and soul: the little old lady who teaches at the school and wears bright socks under her bloomers; the hobo who passes through and entertains the small boys, the old man with the club foot who buys people's warts to make the warts disappear; a Cornish sailor named Pop, who takes him fishing, and many others. With this fine book, Foreman is able to transport us back in time to this strange, wonderful, yet deadly world. It is a fascinating look at war through the eyes of a young boy. This is a truly remarkable book, suitable for children and adults. Even if you don't have children, you should buy it for the magic of its paintings and characters. I highly recommend it.

Lowestoft a quiet seaside town in Suffolk was in the front during World War II. Bombing raids, fire and trips to the air raid shelter bacame almost daily events for young Micheal Foreman growing up in the 1940's. He lived in a small house with his mother himself and his brother's( his father had died when he was a baby).