Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon is a children's book based on a true historical event. The book starts out on Christmas night after all the presents are opened and dinner is finished. Thomas Tolliver asks his grandfather about his favorite Christmas. Thomas’ grandfather tells him about Christmas in 1914 when he was a soldier during the Great War. He describes life in the trenches and how both sides knew there would be no end to the fighting just because it was Christmas. On Christmas night everything was very silent for the soldiers when the German’s began singing Silent Night on the opposite side of no mans land. German soldiers came closer and soon enough all of the soldiers were trading small gifts with one another but eventually they had to go back to their own trenches.
Although this is a picture book, I believe it can be used for students in older grades as well. The book comes with a CD disc with music, which is aweseome. The teacher I was student teaching with last fall spoke of the Chrsitmas in the Trenches and played some music from the era as well.
Holly, I definitely agree that children's books can be used at the secondary level. Kimberly Hill Campbell's "Less is More" talks about how children's books can remind students of why they love reading. Furthemore, students can learn important facts (like what winter was like during WWI) without being overwhelmed by hard vocabulary.
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I would definately use this in my classroom, and I want to get it to listen to the music. Great book Holly.
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