Once Upon A Wartime is a family-friendly exhibition taking place at the Imperial War Museum London until October 30, 2011. Focusing on five well-known books written for children about war and conflict, the exhibit brings the books to life though stunning life-size sets, intricate scale models and hands-on, interactive displays. The exhibit is split into five sections – one for each of the books it explores:  War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden, The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall and Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley.

Throughout the exhibit, visitors will explore the themes of loyalty, separation, excitement, survival and identity portrayed in the books. They will go behind the scenes of each story and learn of the authors’ inspiration through interesting and sometimes unseen items such as manuscripts, early sketches, interviews and photographs. Once Upon A Wartime also offers all-important historical context through expert interpretation and genuine examples of relevant objects including evacuee labels and letters, aircraft recognition cards and a tail fin from a German incendiary bomb.

Diane Lees, Director-General of the museum, says: “War has inspired authors of children’s stories for generations and we’re delighted to draw together some of the very best examples in Once Upon A Wartime. The Imperial War Museum is the museum of everyone’s story so focusing on these extraordinary fictional accounts of conflict is an innovative, and we hope successful, way of helping children, and adults, understand the experience of war.”

Zoe Toft blogs at Playing by the Book and visited the exhibit last month. Read and see photos from her visit  here and here. Click here to watch a video of Hazel Brown, Exhibitions Researcher, talking about the exhibit and here to watch Helena Stride and Grant Rogers of the IWM Learning team explain more about the exhibition’s learning and events programs.

In August 2011, the Imperial War Museum will host a Children’s Literature Festival based on the exhibit. Authors and illustrators who will be taking part include Michael Morpurgo, Marcia Williams, Michelle Magorian, Jane Serraillier (daughter of Ian Serraillier), Martin Brown, Karin Littlewood, Bernard Ashley and Maurice Gleitzman. For those of you who live in the northern UK, you may be interested to know that the exhibit will move to the IWM North in Manchester on February 11, 2012 and run until September 2, 2012.

We came home from the library recently with a very special story: The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Karin Littlewood (Frances Lincoln, 2002). Our attention was first caught by the radiant smiles on the front cover but as soon as we leafed through the book, we realised that there was a darker side to the story. In fact, I was very glad that I then actually read it on my own first, as it proved to be a very moving story and I had to get my own tears out of the way before reading it aloud.

A new boy, Hassan, joins a class in an English school. He is struggling with everything being so different from his home in Somalia. The afternoon class is painting, which he has never done before. He sets about painting his house and family back home – “a lovely picture” – but then he paints in what happened to his house and family – the fire and bloodshed, and his uncle “smudged out”.

The next day, Hassan explains the painting and his family’s flight to England:

Hassan talked for an hour and then he ran out of words, even in Somali. When he finished Miss Kelly [his teacher] had tears in her eyes.

So did I… However, this story ends on an upbeat note: Hassan plays football with his classmates, who are welcoming and friendly; and paints another picture of his old house for his mother. Its bright colors help him to see the other colors around him and we know that he is starting to feel confident about his future.

So beautifully written and illustrated, this sensitive picture-book offers a focal point for children, who, increasingly, can empathise with its story through personal experience. I shared it with my own children; if you already know this book and have shared it at home or in class, do tell us.

And while writing this post, I have enjoyed discovering Mary Hoffman’s blogs (Book Maven and Mary’s Musings) as well as her website. I don’t know where I’ve been, but I realise I have a bit of catching up to do in terms of her books for older readers and know what I’ll be looking for on our next trip to the library! I also love all of the books I’ve come across illustrated by Karin Littlewood – her own website is under construction at the moment but here’s the link because one day…!