Children of the World War II Home Front

by Sylvia Whitman

Explores the experiences of children living in the United States during World War II, including writing V-mail to soldiers, participating in air raid drills, planting Victory Gardens, buying stamps for war bonds, and gathering cooking grease and scrap metal for making bombs.Explores the experiences of children living in the United States during World War II, including writing V-mail to soldiers, participating in air raid drills, planting Victory Gardens, buying stamps for war bonds, and gathering cooking grease and scrap metal for making bombs.

Genres: Juvenile, History

48 pages, Library Binding

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Thomas Andrikus]

While thousands of American soldiers fought overseas in the 1940s, many children were part of the war effort on the home front. From food rationing and tin recycling to air raid drills and relocation camps, a generation of American children was forever changed.

I like seeing the people of America's past: they could appreciate what they had back then, without succumbing for materialistic desires of consumerism as can be seen in the Hallmark culture and Black Friday shopping sales which are available today. Though wartime America was harsh, Americans back then could appreciate and took delight with whatever little that they had...

[Katherine]

One of my lesson plans was "The Home Front" my kids had to learn about the roles of children during World War II and relate it to their life. The book is very short, which is always a plus and less overwhelming. It also have really big words and is easy to understand. Good resource!

Resource: I used this book during my WWII lesson. The children used this book as a reference for their journal entry. They had to write about how they felt going to work to support their families. A great book to relate too!

[Pam]

This little title is one of those I believe was written in an effort to make money. Period. Not a lot of info as far based on the title. For a book based on the lives of the children, there was little info about children. Not enough about the children. I expected more from this book. For younger elementary students.

[Lucia Benzor]

This book talks little about the children and gives more info about the home front in general. Great photographs that could be used for a photo analysis but not much else there besides a great recipe for "make-do cake." Would use the recipe as a hook in a lesson but leave the book. If I did use it, it would be in a center, maybe.

[Danielle Strickland]

Great book to teach children about the affects of the war on other children. It is brief and to the point but very informative.