The COMBAT! fans' bookstore. Here, we share the reading recommendations of your fellow Combat! fans, covering WWII and other shared interests. Your purchases via these links help defray the cost of keeping on-line this fan-run, non-profit web site. 

 


Cut and Make GI Paper Soldiers
by A.G. Smith
Hours of action await young commanders with this full-color collection of over 100 free-standing, easy-to-assemble, two-sided paper soldiers. These World War II–era fighters are depicted in a variety of action poses—wielding bazookas, firing mortars and machine guns, clearing mines, digging trenches—and they come with numerous accessories, such as a tank, field gun, flag, pup tents, and more. Step-by-step instructions make assembling these GIs and their accoutrements easy.
Paperback: 16 pages; Size:12.25" x 9.24"
Publisher: Dover Pubns; ISBN: 0486405818;
List price $5.95

 

TRADING CARDS
(Ages 4 - 8)
Just $1.00

World War II
Allied Fighter Planes Trading Cards

 

 

 

WWII Books for Children and Young People:
Stories for and about children in World War II

WWII Children's Books Index:

bulletStudy Guides and Lesson Plans
bulletFor Ages 4 - 8:
bulletHistory and Coloring Books
bulletFor Ages 9 - 12:
bulletWWII Non-fiction
bulletNon-fiction about children of the Holocaust
bulletWWII Fiction
bulletFor Young Adults (Ages 14 and Up)
bulletWWII History
bulletWWII Young Adult Fiction
bulletBrowse all Military and WWII Books for Young Readers available at Amazon

Lesson Plans and Study Guides for WWII Books

bulletNumber the Stars (Subject Holocaust Age 9-12)
bulletThe Devil's Arithmetic (Subject Holocaust Age 9-12)
bulletTeaching the Diary of Anne Frank (Grades 5 and Up)
bulletAnne Frank : Diary of a Young Girl : A Unit Plan (Subject Holocaust Age 9-12)
bulletSummer of My German Soldier (Subject German POWs in America, Age 9-12)

WWII Children's Books for ages  4 – 8:

The Little Ships:
The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in W
WII
by Louise Borden, Michael Foreman (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8, Fiction
Story of a young girl and her father who sail across the English channel in their small boat to take part in the miracle at Dunkirk, rescuing British soldier from the beach.


War Boy
A childhood look at wartime England

WWII Coloring Books (Ages 4 - 8)

The Second World War Airplane Coloring Book
by Richard King
List price $6.95, 44 pages
Has action renderings of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Supermarine Spitfire, Avro Lancaster, Mitsubishi Zero, Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet, and more.

Airplanes of the Second World War
List price $3.50, 48 pages

Tanks and Armored Vehicles Coloring Book
by Bruce Lafontaine
List price $3.50, 48 pages

 

WWII History for Ages 9 through 12:

World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities
Paperback, 176 pages
List Price $14.95

Excellent classroom aid, provides a comprehensive survey of the WWII era, beginning with Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the Japanese surrender in 1945. Includes a timeline, wartime letters, interviews with soldiers and Holocaust survivors. Activities include creating a CARE package for enlisted soldiers and writing and performing a radio adventure. Forewords by Bill Clinton and John McCain.

The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won
by Stephen E. Ambrose
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Edition: Hardcover, 96 pages

List price $19.95
Stephen E. Ambrose, one of the finest historians of our time, has written an extraordinary chronicle of World War II for young readers. From Japanese warplanes soaring over Pearl Harbor, dropping devastation from the sky, to the against-all-odds Allied victory at Midway, to the Battle of the Bulge during one of the coldest winters in Europe's modern history, to the tormenting decision to bomb Nagasaki and Hiroshima with atomic weapons, The Good Fight brings the most horrific -- and most heroic -- war in history to a new generation in a way that's never been done before. Highlighting Ambrose's narrative are spectacular color and black-and-white photos, and key campaign and battlefield maps. Stephen E. Ambrose's singular ability to take complex and multifaceted information and get right to its essence makes The Good Fight the book on World War II for kids.

Tales of the RAF This whole series are great books for kids and adults alike! Exciting stories based on WWII events gives the reader a real sense of history, as well as a life-lesson. That the stories are fast-paced and exciting is a bonus. Kids (and adults!) will read and re-read these books for years.

Navajo Code Talkers
by Nathan Aaseng
Paperback, 96 pages
List price $8.95
America's secret weapon in WWII was a core group of Native American Navajos who created an unbreakable code.

 

Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the Uss Indianapolis
Reading level: 9-12
Hardcover, 160 pages, Non-fiction

List Price $15.95
Hunter Scott, an 11-year-old boy in Pensacola, Florida, was watching the movie Jaws, listening to Captain Quint tell the story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of World War II. “Eleven hundred men went into the water. Very first light, the sharks come cruising. . . .” Hunter had a simple question: Was this a true story?

The story of the USS Indianapolis, the worst naval disaster in American history, is indeed true. So is the story of the shameful court-martial of the ship’s captain, shameful because the loss of the ship was not his fault, and the Navy knew it. Hunter Scott became the catalyst for the survivors’ efforts to clear their captain’s name and set the record straight. This is the story of the ship, her brave sailors, their wronged captain, and a young man’s crusade to right an old injustice.

Flying Higher: The Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
by Wanda Langley
Hardcover, 132 pages
List price $24.95

In 1942 in the U.S., all military pilots were needed for combat duty, which left critical piloting jobs vacant across the land. Who would deliver the newly manufactured planes to their domestic bases? Who would train new flight crews and tow targets for anti-aircraft practice, test new planes and retest old ones? The answer was: women.

These elite pilots were the WASPs. Civilians all, they earned their wings so that they could undertake hazardous, and sometimes deadly, flight assignments. These young women leapt at the chance to fly an array of fighter planes, and even the big B-29 bombers that scared off many men. Adventurous in play as well as work, the WASPs got into, and out of, some hair-raising episodes. Wanda Langley has conducted extensive interviews with former WASPs, and has the insider's details of their escapades, as well as their training and service. Much of the story is seen in the life of Marie Michell, a nineteen-year-old WASP and fine pilot whose death in a crash underscores the dangers these women faced on a daily basis while doing what they did best to serve their country in war.

Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II by Penny Colman
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Written from a child's perspective, this award-winning book details how 18 million women, many of whom had never before held a job, entered the work force in 1942-45 to help the United States fight World War II and changed the course of history for women, and America, forever. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. An ALA Notable Book. A "School Library Journal" Best Book of the Year.

Going Solo by Roald Dahl
Reading Level: Young Adult
Non-fiction, auto-biography
, 210 pages
List price $6.99

The story of Roald Dahl's life continues in "Going Solo," a marvelous evocation of the author's wartime exploits. As an RAF pilot in WWII, Dahl had some wonderfully exciting -- and frighteningly near-death -- experiences, including encounters with the enemy, battles with deadly snakes, and incredible dogfights. Read reviews for Going Solo

Non-fiction accounts of African-American soldiers written for ages 9 through 12:

bulletLonely Eagles and Buffalo Soldiers:
African Americans in WWII (A First Book)
bulletThe Tuskegee Airmen
Black Heroes of World War II

'Vive LA France':
The French Resistance During World War II (First Books)

by Robert Green (School & Library Binding - January 1997)
Reading Level 9-12 years old - nonfiction covers the story of the French struggle to rid their country of the Nazis. Richly illustrated with pictures on every page.

World War II 50th Anniversary Series by Wallace B. Black and Jean F. Blashfield. Out-of-print. These are histories written for young people. 48-pages each, library bound, all include black-and-white documentary photographs and maps, and most stress tactics and strategies. These are out-of-print, but you can find used copies on line and at local book sellers. Twenty books in the series. List price was originally $19.00, but used copies can be found for as low as $4.00 each. Well worth it!
50th Anniversary of WWII Series - A History for Young Readers

True WWII stories of Children in Concentration Camps and in the Holocaust (Ages 9 through 12):

Anzio Annie recommends:
Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Fiction, based on real events


It was read by the 4th/5th/6th grade Book Club at my kids' school and both boys and girls did read it.  A Newberry award winner. Synopsis: It's 1943. In Copenhagen the Germans begin their campaign to "relocate" the Jews of Denmark. So Annemarie Johansen's parents take in her best friend Ellen Rosen and pretend that she is a part of their family."
Available in paperback, hardcover
Also see: Study guide for Number the Stars.

The Devil's Arithmatic
Foxhole Filly says:
"Number the Stars" is an excellent choice, Anzio Annie, now follow it up with The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen.  It goes into a concentration camp with Polish Jews and is a much *harder* story for that reason...still for young adults.  It gets a little grimmer, where "Number the Stars" is a pretty clean war.
Reading level: Ages 9-12, Fiction
Also see: Study guide for The Devil's Arithmetic.

Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps
by Andrea Warren
Paperback, 160 pages, reading level 9-12
List price $6.99

Caught up in Hitler's Final Solution to annihilate Europe's Jews, fifteen-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is torn from his family and thrown into the nightmarish world of the concentration camps. Here, simple existence is a constant struggle, and Jack must learn to live hour to hour, day to day. Despite intolerable conditions, he resolves not to hate his captors and vows to see his family again. But even with his strong will to survive, how long can Jack continue to play this life-and-death game? Award-winning author Andrea Warren has crafted an unforgettable true story of a boy becoming a man in the shadow of the Third Reich.

Hostage to War: A True Story (Autobiography)
by Tatjana Wassiljewa
Reading level: 9-12
Paperback, 192 pages

When Tatjana was ten years old, Nazi Germany declared war on Russia. Enduring terrible conditions and near-starvation in work camps, Tatjana survived through liberation, but had more obstacles to overcome before fulfilling her dream to become a teacher.

 

Education Posters on Holocaust Subjects

Anne Frank poster

Heroes of the 20th Century - Anne Frank
17x22 Wall Poster
Holocaust survivors - educational poster

History Through a Lens -
Survivors at Ebensee

24x18 Wall Poster
Holocaust - badges Jews had to wear in Nazi territories

Badges of Hate
18x25 Wall Poster

WWII Children's Fiction for Ages 9 - 12

Snow Treasure
by Marie McSwigan
156 pages, Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; ISBN: 059042537, Ages 9-12
List price $4.50

A daring adventure based on a true story about a group of Norwegian children who smuggled nine million dollars in gold past Nazi sentries during World War II. I read this adventure when I was a child and still love it today. Great action/adventure sure to fascinate both boys and girls.

Summer of My German Soldier
by Bette Greene
Reading Level: Ages 9 - 12
Paperback: 230 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.63 x 7.14 x 4.42
ISBN: 014130636X; Reissue edition (September 1999)
List price $6.99

When her small hometown in Arkansas becomes the site of a camp housing German prisoners during World War II, 12-year-old Patty Bergen learns what it means to open her heart. Although she's Jewish, she begins to see a prison escapee, Anton, not as a Nazi--but as a lonely, frightened young man with feelings not unlike her own, who understands and appreciates her in a way her parents never will. And Patty is willing to risk losing family, friends--even her freedom--for what has quickly become the most important part of her life. Thoughtful, moving, and hard-hitting, Summer of My German Soldier has become a modern classic.
Also see: STUDY GUIDE for Summer of My German Soldier

The Boys from St. Petri
by Bjarne Reuter, Anthea Bell (Translator)
Young adult (grades 7 through 10)
Translated from the Danish
Fiction, Action/Adventure

List price $5.99

Synopsis In 1942, a group of young men begin a series of increasingly dangerous protests against the German invaders of their Danish homeland. Lars joins his brother's secret society, whose pranks to ridicule the Nazis occupying Denmark in 1940 escalate to full-scale sabotage after a young laborer shows them the real meaning of war.

Lily's Crossing
by Patricia Reailly Giff
Paperback: 180 pages ;
Ages 9-12
List price $5.50
Every summer Lily and her father go to her family's house in Rockaway, near the Atlantic Ocean. But the summer of 1944 is different. WWII has called Lily's father overseas, Lily's best friend Margaret had to move with her family to a wartime factory town, and Lily is forced to live with her grandmother. But then a boy named Albert, a refugee from Hungary, comes to live in Rockaway. He has lost most of his family to the war. Soon he and Lily form a special friendship, and they have secrets to share. But they have both told lies, and Lily's lie may cost Albert his life. 

WWII Non-Fiction for Young Adults (ages 14 and up)

Sky : A True Story of Courage During World War II
SYNOPSIS: From the moment she agreed to work for the underground Dutch resistance forces against the Nazis, Hanneke Eikema had only two goals--to protect the persecuted and not to get caught. After two years the teenaged Hanneke was discovered by the Germans and sentenced to life in prison. Now, Henneke tells her story in a powerful narrative. Paperback. Photos and maps. 128 p. Non-fiction.

Flags of Our Fathers : Heroes of Iwo Jima
by: James Bradley
Hardcover, 192 Pages
List Price $15.95

In the winter of 1945, on the tiny island of Iwo Jima, a ferocious, battle was fought, resulting in the loss of more than 48,000 lives and producing what was to become one of the most recognizable symbols of WWII: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the peak of Mount Suribachi. One of the six, Navy corpsman John Bradley, came away from this historical moment with a deep and mysterious silence about his role in the flag raising. Even his wife heard him speak of it only once in their 47-year marriage. After Bradley's death, his son James began to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, as well as that of the other five men, all of whom became reluctant heroes because of their presence during that fateful instant when the shutter clicked and created a wartime icon.

Based on James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers for adults, this abridged version for younger readers retains the somewhat terse drama, intense heartbreak, and bittersweet triumph of the original narrative. Through his research on the event and the soldiers (three of the men were killed in combat within days of the flag raising), Bradley explores the dubious nature of heroism and the devastating effects of war. (Ages 14 and older)

0767908244.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg (5549 bytes)German Boy : A Child in War
by Wolfgang S.E. Samuel
(For Adult / High School Age)
As the Third Reich crumbled in 1945, scores of Germans scrambled to flee the advancing Russian troops. Among them was a little boy named Wolfgang Samuel, who left his home with his mother and sister. German Boy is the vivid, true story of their fight for survival as the tables of power turned and, for reasons Wolfgang was too young to understand, his broken family suffered arbitrary arrest, rape, hunger, and constant fear.

Young Wolfgang was forced to become the head of his household, scavenging for provisions and scraps with which to feed his family. Despite his best efforts, his mother still found herself forced to do the unthinkable to survive, and her sacrifices became Wolfgang’s worst nightmares. Somehow, with the resilience only children can muster, he maintained his youth and innocence in little ways – making friends with other young refugees, playing games with shrapnel, delighting in the planes flown by the Americans and the candies the GIs brought. In the end, the Samuels begin life anew in America, and Wolfgang eventually goes on to a thirty-year career in the U.S. Air Force.

Bringing fresh insight to the dark history of Nazi Germany and the horror left in its wake, German Boy records the valuable recollections of an innocent’s incredible journey.

WWII Young Adult Fiction:

I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant
Reading Level: Young Adult
Fiction

An unforgettable novel about the complexities of war as seen through the eyes of an older man looking back on his life. He was just under 18 and filled with patriotic fervor, he couldn't wait to come of age to go overseas to fight in WWII. Warning: contains graphic descriptions of battles and a melancholy ending, though still written at a level for teens. Very powerful book against the horrors of war.

The Champion
by Maurice Gee
Young adult (grades 6 through 10)
Fiction
 

Synopsis When his mother announces that a wounded American soldier is coming to visit, Rex is thrilled. Americans are a novelty in New Zealand, and Rex is filled with fantasies about the war. When his Yank arrives, he is not Rex's idea of a hero. Jackson Coop is only a private. He doesn't like war and admits to being afraid. And he is black.

See complete list of
Military and WWII Books for Young Readers available at Amazon

More WWII Books:

 


Other WWII TV Shows: Black Sheep Squadron 12 O'Clock High

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File last updated May 29, 2006