One of my assignments in a recently completed introductory teacher-librarian course was to create a book display. I quite liked what I came up with, so I’m sharing it here.
This is a depressing display, but sometimes it’s important to showcase the darker sides of human history, and there are a lot of incredible works related to this time period. I imagine that a display like this would be appropriate around Remembrance Day or, with some alterations to focus on Asian and Japanese-Canadian/American voices, Asian History Month in May. There are students who are interested in history and war stories. There are students who are interested in non-fiction accounts of people their age living in extraordinary circumstances. There are students who are looking for comics with gripping stories and beautiful artwork. The selection of books in this display includes all these things.
My goal with the selection of books was to show a variety of authentic voices impacted by the Second World War, as well as make the topic more appealing or accessible to a wider range of students through a focus on comics, which tend to be a quicker read for most. Nonetheless, there are more challenging works in the selection with a heavier focus on history, including Radioactive and the Showa series. There are also books with female protagonists, designed to appeal to female readers who stereotypically may not think of war books as “for them”. The books I have chosen tend to focus more on the consequences for civilians, due in part to difficulties in finding quality comics about military members in North America and Europe. For the purposes of the display, I have split the books into three “regions”: North America, Europe, and Japan. These are imperfect categories – I was able to use only Japanese-authored books for the Japan region, but some “European” comics are by American creators. Some voices that are unfortunately not well-represented by this selection include: Canadian accounts (I found a few comics, but the reviews were questionable); accounts from occupied territories invaded by Japan in East Asia (e.g., Korea, China, Vietnam, etc.); accounts from North African nations where European campaigns took place; and accounts from the USSR, who had the highest death rate of any country involved in the war.
For the display proper, I would include a map of the world on a bulletin board/wall that is coloured to show regions impacted by the war (see sketch). I would like to include photographs of life in different regions, including things like internment camps in North America and life under Japanese/German rule in occupied territories. I would also like to include little trivia cards with questions on them and answers hidden beneath about various aspects of the Second World War (although I would double-check this with colleagues, as I don’t want it to seem trivial). I do not believe that I would include physically disturbing images, like concentration camp victims or bombing victims, as this could be traumatic to spring on some students. At least with the books, you can warn students ahead of time that there will be some difficult imagery so that they have a choice in whether to expose themselves to it or not.
| Trivia Question | Answer |
| Which country lost the most lives in the Second World War? | The USSR (Russia), with approximately 27 million dead. Over half were civilians. |
| How many people in Canada were held in internment camps for being of Japanese descent? | 21 000. Most of these people were Canadian citizens. |
| When did Canada officially enter the Second World War? | September 10th, 1939. This was one week after the United Kingdom declared war and 10 days after Germany invaded Poland |
| Which research project brought the first nuclear weapons to the world? | The Manhattan Project |
| What happened to Germany after the Second World War? | It was split into two countries, East and West Germany, which would not be reunited into one country until 1990. |
| True or false: During the Holocaust, the Nazi regime only targeted Jewish people. | False: Just some of the groups targeted by the regime included Romani, Polish people, communists, gay people, and disabled people. Of the 17 million people killed during the Holocaust, approximately 6 million were Jewish and 11 million belonged to other groups |
| Before attacking the United States in 1941, the Empire of Japan invaded and conquered much of East and Southeast Asia, including parts of Mainland China. What was this period of war with China called? | The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) |
Book Ideas:
| North American Comics | European Comics | Japanese Comics |
| They Called Us Enemy George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker Memoir of Takei’s childhood in the United States internment camps following the Pearl Harbour bombing. Authentic voice on a subject that is not discussed as much as it should be. | The Complete Maus Art Spiegelman Memoir of Spiegelman (who is Jewish) interviewing his father about his time in a concentration camp in occupied Poland. Also discusses the author’s complex feelings about making money off of the Holocaust and his complex relationship with his ailing father. | Barefoot Gen, Volume 1 Keiji Nakazawa Fictional story loosely based on the author’s experiences as a child in Hiroshima immediately before and following the atomic bombing. An accessible read for emerging readers, but does not shy away from difficult themes or showing the physical effects of the bombings on human bodies. |
| Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb Jonathan Fetter-Vorm Explores the history of the Manhattan Project, starting with the Curies discovering radioactivity up to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Examines the ethics of the program as well as the history. | Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation Anne Frank, Ari Folman (adapted text), David Polonsky (illustrator) A graphic novel adaptation of the book authorized by the Anne Frank Foundation, designed to reach a broader audience who may not be ready or willing to read the unabridged text. | In This Corner of the World Fumiyo Kouno A slice-of-life story about a young woman in Hiroshima Prefecture, spanning 12 years from 1934-1946 and showing how her life changes over the course of the war. |
| Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout Lauren Redniss A bit tangential to WW2, this book covers the life of Marie Curie, a discoverer of radioactivity. It also covers the impacts of that discovery in the years since, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | Garth Ennis’ Complete Battlefields Volume 1 Garth Ennis (author), Russ Braun, Carlos Ezquerra, Peter Snejberg (illustrators) A more “action-packed” collection of three stories, following female soviet bombers, a nurse in occupied Singapore, and a British tank crew. Although these are likely to appeal to the “war is super cool” kids, they also explore the human cost and tragedy without falling into the trap of romanticizing war. | Onward to our Noble Deaths Shigeru Mizuki A semi-autobiographical story about a Japanese infantry unit in the final weeks of the war. Shows a point of view that is rarely seen in western media. |
| The Scout: Tommy Prince David A. Robertson (author), Scott B. Henderson (illustrator) Part of a series on indigenous historical figures, this comic shows the achievements of Tommy Prince, a decorated war hero. Also briefly touches on the discrimination Prince faced in Canada. The author is indigenous. | The Wolves of La Louvière Flore Balthazar A semi-fictional account of the lives of several Belgian women during the occupation of Belgium as their lives change and they decide whether to become collaborators or join the resistance movement. The point-of-view character is a teenage girl. | Showa 1926-1939 Showa 1939-1944 Showa 1944-1953 Shigeru Mizuki A multi-volume history of Japan leading up to, during, and following the war, combining historical explorations of the rise and fall of fascism and expansionism in Japan and the author’s experiences as a member of the military during this time period. |