Remembrance and Veteran's Day Reading

Early Christmas morning, 1914, the great guns of the Allied and German forces stop firing. A young, homesick soldier, fighting in the WWI trenches, sees a robin caught in the barbed wire. He ties his white scarf to his bayonnet, as a flag of truce. He feels that this will protect him from German snipers. Then, he makes his way across no-man's land to rescue the bird.

As the young soldier makes his way back to the Allied lines, he hears gruff, lonely German voices singing, Still nacht, heilige nacht - Silent Night, Holy Night.

The illustrations in this book realistically portray the horrors of war. The soldiers are shown in gray and khaki hues, while the robin is colored bright and shiny.

Though this book is completely fictional, it is touching and poignant. It shows the triumph of the human spirit under the horrific conditions of war. An awesome read.