Posts Tagged ‘a-year-of-borrowed-men’

“A tender memoir of human decency during wartime as seen through the eyes of the author’s then-8-year-old mother. The setting for Barker’s story is rural Germany toward the end of World War II. Her mother’s family has been sent three French prisoners of war to help at the farm, as German menfolk were in short […]

“With Remembrance Day just past, B.C. writer Michelle Barker brings young readers (six to nine years) A Year of Borrowed Men, a feel-good story that occurred in Germany in 1944. Barker’s mother, Gerda, saw three French prisoners of war arrive at the family farm as labourers. There were strict rules: no fraternizing. But Gerda found […]

“…Released on Remembrance Day, A Year of Borrowed Men will be a valuable and touching read for years to come in classrooms commemorating those whose lives were touched by war.  But on the cusp of Christmas–also a memorable event in the story–A Year of Borrowed Men will speak to inherent kind-heartedness and be a reminder […]

“…The story, it turns out, is not about prisoners or the ravages of war so much as it is about kindness and humanity—a powerful message equally relevant today. Adults may have to interpret the wider framework, but at its heart, this family tale is a tender evocation of empathy, bravery, and friendship. This is Barker’s […]

“I often don’t like kids’ books that are too obviously tackling a particular social issue… By “issue” books, incidentally, I don’t mean stories with a message. Good stories often have a moral or message, and in the best ones, it never feels forced… Here are a few of my top picks for 2015 out of […]

“This book, based on true events, looks at a German family during the Second World War who are given French soldiers on loan to help with their farm. Seven-year-old Gerda can’t understand why they must be treated like enemies and when they are shown kindness, her mother is threatened with prison. This story reminds us […]

“…Based on the childhood memories of Gerda Schlottke, the author’s mother who immigrated to Canada after the war, the text is augmented with family photographs and an appended note. The choice of Gerda as narrator adds to the story’s appeal for Gerda is unaware of the many horrors associated with this war; for her, it […]