Pistes d'exploration

Discuss Canada’s role in the war in Afghanistan. In what other wars have Canadian soldiers participated? How was Canada’s role different in Afghanistan? Read the last page to find answers.

Discuss how the life of the narrator’s great-grandfather changed when she returned from war. Predict what the present-day soldier will do.

Make a T-chart (graphic organizer) to compare the present-day soldier’s military experience with that of her great-grandfather’s.

Research The Highway of Heroes. Why is it important?

What do you notice about the title and the cover page? What was Canada’s role in the war in Afghanistan? In what other wars have Canadian soldiers participated? How was Canada’s role different in Afghanistan? Read the last page to find answers.

Make a T-chart to compare the present-day soldier’s military experience with that of her great-grandfather’s. Share with the class.

Discuss how the soldier’s great-grandfather dealt with his disability when he came back from World War I. What will his great-granddaughter do? 

Read the poem “In Flanders Fields.” Why are poppies used as symbols of Remembrance Day?

Watch one or two video interviews with a Canadian solidier in Afghanistan soldier (see the Government of Canada website for veterans). Discuss the interviews in small teams.

Discuss the story in small teams using questions cards: How did the war change the soldier’s life? What is the overall message? Why is Remembrance Day important? What are the differences between life in Canada and life in Afghanistan? Invent additional questions.

Draft and revise an e-card to an Afghan veteran (via the above website).

Goal!, A Good Trade, Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion, TheLittle Yellow Bottle, Remembering John McCrae

Mots-clés

Picture book , Afghanistan , female soldiers , Remembrance Day , soldiers , war

Commentaire descriptif

The narrator of this book, now a grown soldier too, reflects on military life—and beyond—through personal experience, and that of a century ago, by visiting great-grandfather’s grave every Remembrance Day. The language is evocative, the vocabulary rich: “How could a man with one arm be a farmer? … Seeding and weeding. Scything and stooking.” The myriad consequences of war are portrayed in unsentimental terms; the complicated relationship between occupying forces and civilians is addressed. Soft, painterly images realistically portray war and regular life, in the past and present. A dark cavalcade of limos drives under Canadian flags on the Highway of Heroes. Warm background colours reflect the poppy pin and glinting medals on the narrator’s uniform. For the first time, readers see the soldier is a woman. Like her great-grandfather, one sleeve is pinned up, no longer needed for the arm that was lost at war. This book offers a moving, nuanced and educational approach to exploring the meaning and roots of Remembrance Day.