I like this telling of the Christmas truce across WWI trench lines because it is both warm and very honest.

Tragic like any other WWI story. ( )

Writing home to his mother during World War I, a soldier tells about the night the war stopped in the trenches on Christmas Eve, 1914. This touching and true story is about the truce that took place up and down the trenches on both sides of the war. Author’s Note; Glossary; Bibliography.

This story is a fictional re-telling of a true story. This Christmas truce did actually happen. It would be an interesting way to allow my students to experience war from a personal perspective. I love that the soldier was writing and receiving letters from his mother. It made the story even more personal. The fact that they buried the dead soldiers first together was quite touching. I had not heard of this before and I know my students would find it just as interesting as I did.

I thought this was a great book, and I loved how the author wrote the book in a form of a letter from the solider to his mother. I also think this book is a great example of how humanity overcame in mist of chaos. I think the illustrator also did a great job and I loved how the font looked like someones actual handwriting. I think this would be a great read around Christmas for some of our upper elementary kids. I also appreciated the glossary in the back of the book and thought it would be beneficial for those learning a little bit more about the army ranking and other war like terms. ( )