In Memory – Picture Books For Memorial Day

Memorial Day, like Veterans Day, is one of those overlooked observances that to government, library, and bank employees means a chance to catch up or take a long weekend.  Kids—even grownups!—easily get confused about the difference between Memorial Day (last Monday in May, to honor war dead) and Veterans Day (Nov. 11, to honor living veterans).  Some of that confusion is reflected in children’s books: would this title be better for one or the other?  Here are three that could work for both.

Memorial Day Surprise, by Theresa Martin Golding, illustrated by Alexandra Artigas. Boyds Mill Press, 2004, 32 pages.  Age/interest level: 4-6

Kids love parades, and young Marco has a special reason to look forward to the town’s annual Memorial Day celebration: his mom has told him there’s going to be a big surprise in the parade, just for him.  As each band and float passes, he asks eagerly—Is this it?  Is this the surprise?  The answer is always no, until the very end, when the veterans march past.  At their head, being pushed in a wheelchair, is his own beloved grandfather.  Marco didn’t even know his abuelo is a hero!  For very young children, this is a sweet, family way to introduce the concept of Memorial Day.  The men being commemorated are still living, but they are a vibrant link to the fallen who gave their all.

The Wall, by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Ronald Himler.  Clarion, 1990, 30 pages.  Age/interest level: 6-10

“This is the wall, my grandfather’s wall.  On it are the names of those killed in a war, long ago.”  The boy and his father have come from a long distance to D. C. specifically to look for Grandpa’s name: “’We have to find it,’ Dad says.”   Dad never knew his father, who was killed in that war long ago; it’s his first visit to the monument that commemorates the dead.  The names are hard to find because they’re not listed alphabetically, but according to the year in which the soldier was killed.  It takes a while to search the 58,000+ names, during which the boy inspects the tokens, pictures, toys, and letters that other visitors have left.  Finally his dad locates the name: George Munoz.  It’s the only name we learn; all the living remain anonymous.  Dad makes a rubbing of it to take home, while other visitors stroll by: a sorrowing elderly couple, a grandfather with his grandson, a noisy group of school girls, a legless veteran.  Finally the boy leaves his own picture: “He won’t know who I am.”  “I think he will,” says Dad.

The Wall is a great example of the art of the picture book: an understated premise, simple story, pastel-toned watercolors suggesting a cold, blustery day that’s perfect for the wistful mood.  But the unnamed war itself, as grandparents will remember, was problematic to say the least.  Guilt and regret remain in the national memory at the mere mention of Vietnam, a taint that poisoned all subsequent histories, and all subsequent wars.  Visitors to the Wall can see themselves in the polished granite surface, reflected against that sea of names: does this suggest that Vietnam, supposedly a moment of truth for America, was all about us?  The message older kids are likely to get from the sadder-but-wiser tone of melancholy is that no war is worth the cost—a message that may actually subtract value from the lives that were lost.

America’s White Table, by Margot Theis Raven, illustrated by Mike Benny.  Sleeping Bear, 2005, 30 pages.  Age/interest level: 6-10.

Katie and her two sisters, Gretchen and Samantha, are eagerly expecting Uncle John to come over for dinner on Veterans Day, but they’re puzzled when their mother sets a little white table off to the side.  This, as Mom explains, is a custom that originated immediately after the Vietnam War, when so many soldiers were unaccounted for.  The white table is now a tradition at military dinners and reunions: small, set-apart, spread with a white cloth and symbolic items that represent fallen heroes, particularly those missing in action.

The girls’ mother explains the symbolism: “We use a small table, girls, to show one soldier’s lonely battle against many.  We cover it with a white cloth to honor a soldier’s pure heart when he answers his country’s call to duty.”    A lemon slice, salt, a black napkin, a white candle, and a red rose all have special meaning for families who have lost a son, brother, or father in action.  Before Uncle John’s arrival Mom tells the girls about his experience as a POW in Vietnam, and Katie is so moved she traces the word Hero in the salt sprinkled on the plate.

It’s possible to go overboard in honoring veterans and fallen soldiers: plenty of young men enlisted or were drafted with less than pure hearts, and I get a little squirmy with tributes that credit the military with securing all our blessings.  At the same time, sacrifice is sacrifice, and sinful soldiers are more than worthy of the gratitude of sinful citizens.

P. S.: Homeschool Share has a Christian-themed unit study for America’s White Table.

For books appropriate to Veterans Day, see Those Who Served—and Serve.