What are the best children's books on the second world war?

Shirley Hughes, author of classic picture books including the Alfie books, Dogger and her latest books for teenagers on the second world war: Hero on a Bicycle and the soon to be published Whistle Down The Wind
My choice is Carrie’s War, by Nina Bawden. Carrie’s War paints a poignant and realistic picture of what the second world war was like for a child. The second world war was traumatic and frightening for children, and those being evacuated had to be very brave. Carrie’s War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn’t sentimentalise war.

Katherine Rundell, author of Rooftoppers
A book that made a huge impression on me was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (the author of the sublime book, The Giver). It’s about two best friends, one Jewish, during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, and it’s extraordinary; honest and wise without being sentimental or exploitative. There’s a scene in it, with a sniffer dog and a boat filled with refugees, that still haunts me.

Michael Morpurgo, author of books including War Horse, Friend of Foe, The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips
I would choose Goodnight Mr. Tom and/or Carrie’s War, both hugely relevant stories today, when we consider those refugee children worldwide fleeing from the devastation of war. It’s a subject I have written about often myself.

SF Said, author of Varjak Paw and Phoenix
I’d like to recommend two books on the second world war. The first is The Diary Of Anne Frank: for me, still the most powerful book about the war. Anne Frank’s voice was incredible: so honest and direct. I just wish she’d lived to write all the other books she wanted to write.

The other book I’d recommend is less well-known, but equally worth searching out: Robert Westall’s Blitzcat, a fantastically evocative novel about the Blitz. It’s told from the point of view of a cat who passes through many human lives, achieving something like what Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse did with the first world war.

Philip Reeve, author of Mortal Engines series and Cakes in Space
My favourite second world war set book is Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard, a child’s-eye view of war which is both startlingly unsentimental and weirdly dreamlike, it’s not written for children but teenagers would enjoy it. I also want to recommend Pied Piper by Neville Shute, which was actually written during the war and is about an elderly Englishman who becomes responsible for a growing group of children as he tries to escape from the German invasion of France in 1940. I read it as a child, and it left a deep impression.

Tony Bradman, author of My Brother’s Keeper
I want to recommend three: Last Train from Kummersdorf by Leslie Wilson – this is a terrific story about Hanno and Effi, a boy and a girl trying too survive in the chaos of Germany at the end of the war. Johnnie’s Blitz by Bernard Ashley – a gritty, hard-edged novel about Johnnie Stubbs, a boy who finds himself on the run and looking after a three-year-old girl in the blitz. The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall – still one of the best books for children about the second world war. Geordie lad Chas McGill adds the ultimate trophy to his collection of war souvenirs – a working machine gun from a crashed German bomber…

James Dawson, author of Under My Skin, current Queen of Teen
My favourite second world war story is a beautiful picture book called Rose Blanche by Ian McEwan (illustrated by Roberto Innocenti). After soldiers come to her German town, young Rose follows a strange truck through the forest, unprepared for the horrors she witnesses behind a barded wire fence. Originally published in 1985, the book clearly influenced both Schindler’s List and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and the haunting illustrations stayed with me long after I finished the book.

Louise O’Neill, author of Only Ever Yours
I was fascinated by the second world war as a child and begged my mother to buy me as many books as she could on the subject. Some of these have stayed with me ever since. Anne Frank’s Diary, Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden, Goodnight Mr. Tom, and Back Home by Michelle Magorian, and of course, the wonderful When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr. But the book I remember having the greatest impact on me was Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Greene. I read it when I was about 10 and it was the first time I gave any consideration to the fact that not all of the Germans fighting in the war were inhumane monsters. The eponymous German soldier, Anton, has no interest in Nazi ideology; he is simply a young man caught up in something beyond his control. It’s a powerful book about love and desperation.

Twilight Vi, site member
The book that I love most on the second world war is Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden. It made me think about what it’s like to be evacuated and I just love this book. I really want Jacqueline Wilson to write a book about an evacuee, I think it would be brilliant.

Sita Brahmachari, author of Artichoke Hearts and Red Leaves
My choices are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book and the young heroine Liesel Meminger’s story is one of personal friendship and courage with “the enemy” against all odds. When Liesel steals a book from her wealthy employer her world begins to expand. Despite the fact that these books are read in the basement of her house while bombs fall all around her. The book speaks of the power of literature to open people’s hearts to each other. She and her foster father cannot stand by and see the young Jewish man who is her friend be taken by the Nazis and when he is at his lowest ebb it is Liesel reading from her stolen books that keeps hope in his heart. This book will make you cry, restore your faith in human nature and think about the power of stories to transform lives.

I also want to recommend a book for younger children: The Lion and The Unicorn by Shirley Hughes, a beautiful picture book story of a boy who holds on to the badge he is given by his father as he goes off to fight in the war. Through all Lenny’s trials – having to be evacuated, fear for his father’s safety, missing his mother and meeting a wounded soldier – it this badge of the Lion and the Unicorn that keeps him believing in hope. It seems to have an almost magical power. Shirley Hughes’s illustrations bring home the loneliness and confusion that war brings to children’s lives.

Paul Dowswell, author of The Story of the Second World War and Ausländer
These are written for adults, but great for teens: The World at War by Richard Holmes, the book accompanying the unbeatable 1970s TV documentary series. These eye-witness accounts just pip Studs Turkel’s similar The Good War at the post, with first hand testimony by everyone from Lord Mountbatten to Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge, and the poor chaps on the ground who had to do the actual fighting.

Site member ItWasLovelyReadingYou
My second world war book recommendation is Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. I cannot stress how much I love this book, and if I described why I liked it i’d probably just echo my review so yeah, Code Name Verity!

Sarah McIntyre, author and illustrator whose books include Oliver and the Seawigs
My favourite second world war book growing up was called Marta and the Nazis by Frances Cavanah. It follows the escape from Austria of a Jewish girl who’s secretly carrying the family diamonds in her baby doll’s bottle. But I think it’s out of print… So I’m going to choose another couple of YA books too: Maus by Art Spiegelman. Spiegelman’s groundbreaking use of comics to tell the story of a man interviewing his father about the Holocaust feels even more universal because he chooses to draw its human characters as different kinds of animals. Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard: a young Brit named Jamie scavenges an existence alone in wartime Shanghai and in Japanese prison camps, coming to identify with his captors, admiring their fighter pilots and losing any sense of taking sides in the international conflict.

Jessamy Taylor, author of King’s Company
Recommending something to read about the second world war is particularly difficult because the good books (The Diary of Anne Frank, Goodnight Mr Tom, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, The Silver Sword, and many, many more) are also very important. My own best-loved one is When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith Kerr’s story of her family leaving Berlin in 1933 and living as refugees in Switzerland, Paris and finally England. It’s warm and compassionate and very funny. When I read it to my daughters, one of them laughed until she fell off the bed at Max and his French homework. Then we cried over Onkel Julius, because the fear, and the terrible implications of Hitler winning the election, are all there too, calmly and clearly explained. It’s a wonderful book and I’ll not just recommend it, I’ll plead for it to be read.

Leslie Wilson, author of My Last Train from Kummersdorf
Good Night Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian is a deeply touching story that confounds expectations of “the war story”. Linda Newbery’s Sisterland displays a profound understanding of the complexities of human experience, as well as being an engrossing read with a highly sympathetic main character.

Shalini Boland, author of the Outside dystopia series as well as A Shirtful of Frogs, a second world war timeslip adventure
I want to recommend Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian is a beautiful tale of the makeshift families that were created when children were evacuated from the cities. At first it seems as though nine-year-old Londoner Willie Beech is sent from one terrible, abusive situation to another; but Mr Tom isn’t as gruff as his exterior… I also adored The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. It’s a shocking, heart-wrenching tale, but absolutely gripping. A true modern classic that will make you think long after you turn the last page.

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Laxmi Hariharan, author of The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer
I’m going to recommend The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje’s novel for adults which is perfect for older teens. I saw the film before I read the book. Not one but two doomed love affairs set towards the end of the second world war. I loved the vast richness of his canvas from an Italian monastery to the deserts of North Africa, the weaving of the politics of war with the power play of passion, all exhilarated with the thirst for exploration and adventure. I also love Under the Blood Red Sun by Graham Salisbury – I love this coming of age story set in Hawaii in 1941 when the Japanese launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. It shows how devastating an effect a war can have on children. In this case it changes Tomi’s life from being an all American baseball loving teen, to becoming an enemy in the eyes of his neighbours and finally to rediscovering his pride in his Japanese heritage. So, ultimately it helped him find his identity and place in society.

Site member, Infinity scolopendra
I like the Michael Morpurgo books on the second world war.

Piers Torday, author of the Last Wild trilogy
I have a few to recommend! First of all Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes. Shirley Hughes is one of my literary heroes but her story is about a very different kind of hero. Britain was never invaded during the war, but this tense adventure gives a thrilling taste of the dilemmas which might have faced young people if we had been.

Girl With a White Dog by Anne Booth. This story is not set during the second world war, but without giving the clever plot away, it is about a young girl confronting her family’s past role in the conflict and discovering that while the 1940s feel far away now, many prejudices which inflamed the hostilities then remain all too current.

Otto by Tomi Ungerer. A beautifully illustrated classic tale about a teddy bear separated from his Jewish owner at the start of the war – will they ever find each other again? Says so much with great simplicity and power.

And lastly, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall. As a young boy growing up in the North East, I remember being hooked by this Carnegie award-winning yarn about five children from the region who find a working machine gun in a crashed Luftwaffe plane and set about defending their home town from bombing raids with dramatic results. It made me realise that war sweeps everyone up in its path, whatever their age.

Damian Kelleher, author of A Dog in No-man’s Land
I’d choose Robert Westall’s The Machine Gunners. It’s the second world war seen through the eyes of Chas, a teenage boy on Tyneside, and Westall brings the whole business of war down to a very personal level. He also creates an incredibly exciting adventure with Chas and his gang finding a German machine gun and the lengths they go to conceal it. I can also recommend Michael Foreman’s War Boy, his beautifully illustrated second world war memoir of his childhood in Suffolk. It includes the true story of the bomb that comes crashing through the roof, bounces round his bedroom before landing in the grate and exploding up the chimney.

Sarwat Chadda, author of the Ash Mistry series
My choice is William Carries On by Richmal Crompton, was published right in the heart of the second world war. We see all its little absurdities played out in the life and times of William Brown, always aged 11. The book is a collection of seven stories, ranging from how William discovers that lemon soap (guest size) does not make for a good lemon substitute in cooking, to how the village suffers from a “Bomb Inferiority Complex”, to how William (sort of) captures Hitler in the old barn, to finally witnessing his attempts to accelerate the peace process by having Violet Elizabeth run over by a train. Or at least lie between the tracks.

Bernard Ashley, author of Dead End Kids and Johnnie’s Blitz
My favourite, in order, are: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall, I Am David by Anne Holm, Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden, The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier. I also want to quote what 14-year-old Yitskhok Rudashevski wrote in his diary during his imprisonment in the Vilna Ghetto:

Today the ghetto celebrated the circulation of the one hundred thousandth book in the ghetto library. The festival was held in the auditorium of the theatre. … Hundreds of people read in the ghetto. The reading of books in the ghetto is the greatest pleasure for me. The book unites us with the future, the book unites us with the world.

He was killed in 1944.

Rachel McIntyre, author of Me and Mr J
I love Back Home by Michelle Magorian. The moving experiences of an evacuee returning from America to drab, post-war England. Rusty’s bewilderment and confusion is so vivid in this heartfelt book. And I’d also like to recommend Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Every detail of every scene is woven into a story so fast-paced, it had me literally holding my breath as I turned the pages. An authentic and gripping read rooted in female friendship and heroism.

Ayesha, site member
My favourite second world war book would most definitely have to be The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. This is because it is told in the perspective of Death and not in an English or French or German or Russian perspective, showing that no one is being dishonest. It is about an innocent young girl who discovers a love for reading and who doesn’t understand exactly why there is a Jew hiding in the basement. I love the innocence that is portrayed in this book as well as the brutality of Death’s narration. It is an addictive read and I highly highly recommend it to anyone.

Thedauntlessbookthief, site member
My all time favourite book (that just so happens to be set during the second world war) is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Lottie Longshanks, site member
I would recommend anything written by Michael Morpurgo about the war, especially Friend or Foe. I also enjoyed The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall and Storm Warning by Mara Kay. My two absolute favourites are Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh and The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico.

ButterflyLion, site member
I really like Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo.

PetrovaFossil, site member
My favourite second world war book is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; I loved the way the characters spoke to me as if they were real. I felt part of the story and the fact that is was narrated by Death just made it all the more believable! I love Liesel’s and Rudi’s relationship and was in tears when the bomb hit the street. It is one of the best books that I have ever read and one of the very few that has made me emotional.

The Book Bunch, site members
We loved When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith Kerr. We were moved to tears by Once by Morris Gleitzman

David, on email

This choice or recommendation may seem a little obscure, or obtuse, but I’d offer The Book of Merlyn by T H White. Though not published until 1977, it was written in 1941 and deals, not directly but through analogy, with the causes of the war and its consequences in the militarisation of human life. The character of Mordred from the traditional Arthurian cycle is updated to be head of a political movement, called The Thrashers, with obviously fascistic overtones (though they may also echo the Oprichniki of Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible – a kind of medieval SS in some versions of events). White, though a tortured soul in some respects, had a depth of compassion for humanity that’s evident in this anti-fascist allegory, a work that remains neglected because it wasn’t included with the original Once and Future King collection.

Annie, on email

My favourite book about the second world war is Peggy Larkin’s War by Trevor Forest. It’s excellently written and has my grandchildren enthralled whenever we read it.

Scott, on email

I would like to nominate Trevor Forest’s book Peggy Larkin’s War as the best children’s book about the second world war.

Lynn, on email

I nominate Peggy Larkin’s War by Trevor Forest. A beautiful and engaging friendship. My daughter LOVES this book.

Verity (aged 14), on email

I nominate Biggles Defies the Swastika by W.E. Johns. It’s a classic adventure story set during the invasion of Norway in the second world war. I think this part of the war is perhaps a little less well known, and also the author is more obscure now. Johns was a pilot and so the information about second world war aeroplanes is very interesting and detailed. This story also has a confrontation between Biggles and his arch enemy, Erich von Stalhien, a German Intelligence officer. It makes for an entertaining and informative read, as Biggles and his associates attempt to evade capture in order to escape to London with important military information.