Cecil's Story

by George Ella Lyon, Peter Catalanotto (Illustrator)

A boy struggles with fear and loneliness when his father, a Union soldier, is injured in the Civil War, and his mother sets out to find him

Genres: Picture Books, Family, War, History, Civil War, Historical, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

About the author

George Ella Lyon is a Kentucky author who has published in many genres, including picture books, poetry, juvenile novels, and articles.

Reviews

[Michael Lausche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, because it was one that can have a high connection to those reading it. For people that may not see a family member or a friend for a long time, it can be tough trying to figure out if they will come back or not. This picture book is great for connections like that, because it is about a boy who has a father that is sent off to war. His mother is informed that he might be hurt badly, so she goes to fetch him. With this being, the young boy is left at home to take care of things. He has to put aside his sad feelings about his father and mother bing gone, and take care of the farm. He remembers everything his father taught him, making sure that things get done. He has to stay at the neighbors house, because they can not be left alone in their own home. But, work still has to be done. The biggest moment I thought, was when the boy described that whatever happens, his father would always be "his father." Whether he would come home or not, his father would always be remembered. The illustrations of this book are very charming, and made me feel as if I were there. Pictures of the boy tending to the cattle, and performing hard labor in the mud, help depict of the tough work he had to do while the father was at war. I highly recommend this book, and for grades Kindergarten-2nd grade.

[Emily Costella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting story. It is about a young boy who's father is sent away to war. The young boy worries about what could have happened to his father as his mother leaves because he has gotten hurt. The boy is staying with neighbors who are reassuring him that things just take time to heal. When the father and mother return home, the father is missing an arm but the child knows its still the same papa he knew before.
One thing I really enjoy from this story is the top to bottom art on all of the pages. The full speed on every page was amazing and definitely would catch the eye of older readers. I am not quite sure which age group to use this book with however. The writing and language is not too complex and there are only a sentence or two on each page. But the topic as a whole could be hard for younger children to understand. I think it would mesh will with older students who could have more emotional connection to the child who is worried about their father not returning. The older students get, the more they see things from other perspectives and can try to relate to them. The younger students would not be able to connect on this level and would miss a lot of the story.

[Rylee Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecil's Story is a picture book for older readers. A young boy has a long list of "What-If" questions running through his mind. The questions he wonders about have to do with war and the rippling affects of war, including his mother and father. The book takes place during the Civil War. This book is sad and hard to comprehend for young readers, making it better for a little bit older of an audience. The ending is sad because of what his father has lost in the war, but hopeful because he did end up coming back. The illustrations are beautiful and add to the text.

[Kyra Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, a boy is left at home wondering if his father is going to make it back safely from the Civil War. It is definitely an eye opener and a sad story about the effects of wars, but written in a way that makes it age-appropriate for young elementary schoolers. I don't know if I would ever read it in a class, but it is always nice to get a different perspective on events - and no one talks about the children during that time.

[Angelina Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book all-around. The picture are beautiful, but also indicative of an era. The story is set in the civil war era, but could be used in a lesson plan or as tool for a family to explore the realities and fears of children when parents go away to any war.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

So few words expressed yet so much is told.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This did little to help my kids understand the Civil War other then Dads came back injured.

[Jordan Caton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my picture book for older readers. This is a story questioning what would happen if your dad went to the Civil War. It gives a lot of if-then statements such as if he got hurt, your mom would have to leave for him. It goes through sequence after that showing what what happen like after your mom left you would have to live with neighbors and help them. You don't know if he will come back alive, or if you will have to take the place of him and care for your mother.

There is not many words in this book, and a younger child could read the WORDS, but the reason this is for older readers is because the concepts. Younger students may not understand war, and it might upset them thinking of their dad going away and getting hurt. It does conclude with hope of him coming back and still being your "papa." It is a very good book to place kids in the shoes of a child at this time. They might not understand exactly what people went through during the Civil War, but this lets them see in the eyes of someone their own age the effects of the war.

The illustrations are paintings done by Peter Catalanotto. They fit the story very well and add a lot. The water colors are not extremely bright but is still interesting to look at. There are blurs instead of sharp lines and that fits very well.

I would recommend this for 4th grade.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cecil's Story by George Ella Lyon uses simple vocabulary and simple sentences. The text itself is easy; however, the meaning implied is much more complex. The story is about a little boy whose father has gone off to war. The father is wounded, and the boy begins to speculate different outcomes of the situation. This adds a complex element as children are required to imagine various possibilities. Additionally, the subject matter is difficult. Children must take on the boys point of view as he imagines a world without his dad or a world with an injured dad.

The illustrations are a huge component to this story. They made me feel empathy and sorrow. They expressed time passing and various emotions. The text itself was fairly straight forward. Yet, the art was heart-wrenching. I thought this book was a powerful story that would be good to add to a Civil War unit, a study on point of view, or a comparison contrast piece. There are many aspects to the book that would lend itself to an in depth lesson.

[Kelli Mcdonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecil's Story is about a child who's father goes away to war. Cecil's father is hurt while he is away and his mother has to go far away for a long time to take care of him. Cecil then has to stay with the neighbors and take care of the animals and the farm while his family is away. He only cries at night time and is a very big help around the farm but Cecil misses his family very much. Will he ever be reunited with his family?

I enjoyed this book because it is something that children need to be aware of and need to know it happens. I like that this book talks about war from a child's perspective. War is a very sad thing and i enjoyed the words being simplified and the concept being hard. Having simple words with a dense topic makes it so much more understandable for a child reader. I would use this in my classroom, for sure!

[Jenny Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books like this are important. It may not leave you feeling "complete," but I think that's part of the message. Children need to be exposed to history and challenges of life, not just popular, cutely rhymed, fun books (although those are great too, don't get me wrong). My dad recently had a stroke that has left him legally blind and battling severe anxiety. I know what it is like to have a dad come home not quite the same. Just because this book is a little different, please don't discount it. It is applicable, believe me. Love the subtle detail of the one-armed toy soldier on the cover. I agree with Miss Caton's review-although the sentences may be simple, I'd probably recommend for a little older audience. I've already mentally shelved this one next to Gloria Houston and Cooney's The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Tale.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This picture book is for older readers because of its concept and language. In the book, Cecil's father has gone away to war and his mother goes off to fetch him because he has been hurt. This story has a lot of stopping points for discussion or reflection where you can put yourself in Cecil's shoes and think about what you would do in his situation. I didn't particularly care for this book that might. Its story theme was kind of depressing and the illustrations were not very clear and could be confusing. The pictures do not enhance the text as well as I think they could, and I thought that the colors used for the illustrations were dark and should be more colorful and bright.

[Sarah Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout my time in the literature class, I have come to love George Ella Lyon. Her stories seem to have such intensity that are only intensified by the realistic illustrations. This particular story of hers follows a young boy as he imagines what life might be like if his father were to enter the fight of the Civil War. "If Papa went off to war...He might get hurt" is how this story begins. the rest of the tale is pretty emotional because of the tense topic of war but I think it would be a great picture book for older readers. The simple text is brought to life with delicate illustrations of the main character within his scenarios.

[Megan Goss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I thought about this picturebook. It was really honest about what could happen to a father during war. It was sad that this boy had all of these "what if" questions and cried at night. The illustrations were good but I didn't think they were wonderful. You can tell they were created with watercolor because there are a lot of drips down the page. This reminded me of someone crying and the tears made the image blurry and streaked. A lot of the images were blurred together to show movement, but I didn't like this visual effect; it was almost too busy at times.

[Sherita · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was a pretty simple read, but had a very strong content. George Ella Lyon focus on a child's love one being sent away for war, and hit all the topics that may concern a normal individual with a family member in war ( not coming home, being injured, and who would take care of the home), but this book gave a sense of hope and reassurance that everything will be okay even if they did come back injured or gone for a long period of time . The illustration in this book I felt went hand in hand with the plot of the story, which makes it a easy and peaceful read.

[Sammie Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good book yet I did not like it much because the ending left you guessing. You never know for sure what happened but that is what it is good for. Inferring lessons would work well with this book. This has a lot of information about agricultural lively hood, so urban children may learn alot from the text but may also need alot of scaffolding for unknown words or phrases. Teaches the love of family and the hardship of war. It does a good job of putting you in the characters shoes. Great for 1-3rd grade.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This young boy's dad is away at war and gets injured. Throughout the story you can see the boy's feelings and worry as he wonders when and if his parents will return home. The coolest part of the book is the picture of the cycle of a chicken. This shows how much time has passed since his mother left. In the end you can see the love the family has for each other. They know that they will somehow make it through even though the dad has a missing arm.

[Katherine Settle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sad story takes place during the civil war time. This is about a young boy named Cecil who is very affected by his father being gone at war. He works on a farm while he was waiting for his mother to return home with his father. He does end up coming home but only with one arm. You can tell that the book is pretty simple by the text and illustrations. I feel like many kids would like this book, especially young boys that were interested in the war.

[April Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great children's book with beautiful illustrations. This is a great book to show children that not every book has to end with all the questions answered or telling you exactly what happened to the characters. This is a great book to show children how to used questioning before reading, during reading the book, and after you have read the book. This is a great way to see the comprehension of each individual student.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to use with questioning strategies. Before, during, and after questions will pose great classroom discussion and encourage imaginative thinkers. There will be a great deal of unanswered questions, so you may want to state this before the lesson. I don't recommend this for younger grades.

[R.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine this story would be frightening to a child who has a parent participating in a war far away from home. Yes, we have wounded warriors but this story only exemplifies the scary aspects of a child-parent separation. Even if it does end well, except for the fact of the missing arm, it seems a bit scary. It is well-told and well-illustrated.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to introduce the strategy questioning. This book has a lot of if this happen or this happen and it never really tells the students what exactly happens. It's up to the to decided what they think really happened.

[Shaley Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book that you would use to teach questioning. Altough I would not use this for the younger children. They would not be able to understand what is truly going on. This book is also confusing in the since that you never know if the dad really went to war in the first place.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

We see through the eyes of a young boy how the Civil War has effected his life. Cecil stay with a neighbor while his mother goes to find his injured father to bring him home. This would be a great read aloud for all ages.

[Hope Mullinax · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to teach children how to question and make inferences. I would reccomend this for classroom use, but be aware of many lingering questions that are left unanswered. The end of the book leaves readers guessing if Cecil's dad had left for war, or if he was just imagining it.

[Jillian Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book overall. Because of the vague language this book would be useful during units on questioning or predictions. A well written book about extreme hardships that children sometimes have to go through.

[Katie Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is not the typical children's story because it leaves you hanging with many questions unanswered. I love this story and would use it with the students because they can decide how they think the story will end.

[Marjorie Cummings · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Papa went to war and was hurt really bad and Mama went to fetch him? This book explores the thoughts of a boy left with neighbors during the civil war as his mother goes to get his hurt father.

[Carolynne]

Brief text for young children. Cecil asks "What if my father went away to war?" Beautiful pictures by Peter Catalanotto.

[Lorie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather than reassuring, this story is depressing, stressful and filled with strange thoughts and images.