Children's Books of the Great War
Click on the Images to go to Illustrations and Text Galleries
* 'With French at the Front' contains no text gallery, as this book was a full length novel.
The Great War was a total war, involving people from all walks of life. Youngsters were not ignored in the general propaganda effort and in most of the warring countries, many types of publications were published, aimed at schoolchildren and the young.
In the following section, you will find a short and by no means exhaustive collection of representive illustrations and texts from children's books published during the war for young readers in Great Britain and her Empire. Most of the books were written for boys in their teens with an exception now and then such as the book 'The Animals Do Their Bit in the Great War'.
The artwork in these books is very impressive and well executed. The printing quality leaves the impression that such books were not intended for working class readers. Judging from their bindings and lavish color printing they were obviously quite expenive. The texts are, by modern standards, naive and very patriotic, but undoubtedly reflect contemporary beliefs and attitudes. The artwork on the other hand, and especially the color plates, being commericial in nature, do not appear to be quite as dated.
You will find a gallery of illustrations for each book as well as a more or less representative text chapter.