Military & Wars Books - Page 4

War Horse

Michael Morpurgo

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Press Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $6.25

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Animals -> Horses -> Fiction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Made me think of Black Beauty 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I decided to pick up War Horse after the nice, new cover caught my eye in a local bookstore and immediately brought it home, cracked open the cover, and allowed myself to be swept off into Joey's story.
I love the fact that this book comes directly from the "horses point of view," which is similar strikingly familiar to Black Beauty by Anna Sewell as to compared to Michael Morpurgo's War Horse.
The story starts out with the description of a painting of a horse, and than jumps into the horse painted in the picture, Joey, who is bought by a farmer and brought home to Albert, who loves and cares for him similar to Joe Green did in Black Beauty. The stories end similar, with different twist. But we aren't focusing on Black Beauty here...
Joey ends up being sold into war, where he learns the task of bearing men through the machine fire of war, dragging the dead away in carts and even being used to pull the cannons to the front lines. His life is hard, but he does the best he can under many different owners, the majority of them kind and caring, from going to the English to the Germans themselves, we see the innocence of the Deutschlanders struggle to fight the war against the British and the French. Joey also makes close friends with a fellow war horse called Topthorn, a tall, black stallion that seems a lot like Ginger. The two remain together for a long time, always partnered up and never too far away from the other.
All the while Joey wonders about Albert.
This is a nice story to read to anyone whom loves horses and there point of view on things. The war that Joey took part in was a frightening one and isn't for young children. I found this a nice read and a nice companion to Black Beauty. So if you love World War I, and horses, try picking up and reading War Horse.

Editorial Review:

In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?

Rifles for Watie

Harold Keith

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperTeen Amazon Marketplace: 182 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Military & Wars
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> United States -> Fiction -> 1800s
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> United States -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jeff Bussey walked briskly up the rutted wagon road toward Fort Leavenworth on his way to join the Union volunteers. It was 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff was elated at the prospect of fighting for the North at last.

In the Indian country south of Kansas there was dread in the air; and the name, Stand Watie, was on every tongue. A hero to the rebel, a devil to the Union man, Stand Watie led the Cherokee Indian Na-tion fearlessly and successfully on savage raids behind the Union lines. Jeff came to know the Watie men only too well.

He was probably the only soldier in the West to see the Civil War from both sides and live to tell about it. Amid the roar of cannon and the swish of flying grape, Jeff learned what it meant to fight in battle. He learned how it felt never to have enough to eat, to forage for his food or starve. He saw the green fields of Kansas and Okla-homa laid waste by Watie's raiding parties, homes gutted, precious corn deliberately uprooted. He marched endlessly across parched, hot land, through mud and slash-ing rain, always hungry, always dirty and dog-tired.

And, Jeff, plain-spoken and honest, made friends and enemies. The friends were strong men like Noah Babbitt, the itinerant printer who once walked from Topeka to Galveston to see the magnolias in bloom; boys like Jimmy Lear, too young to carry a gun but old enough to give up his life at Cane Hill; ugly, big-eared Heifer, who made the best sourdough biscuits in the Choctaw country; and beautiful Lucy Washbourne, rebel to the marrow and proud of it. The enemies were men of an-other breed - hard-bitten Captain Clardy for one, a cruel officer with hatred for Jeff in his eyes and a dark secret on his soul.

This is a rich and sweeping novel-rich in its panorama of history; in its details so clear that the reader never doubts for a moment that he is there; in its dozens of different people, each one fully realized and wholly recognizable. It is a story of a lesser -- known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. Inexorably it moves to a dramat-ic climax, evoking a brilliant picture of a war and the men of both sides who fought in it.

The Gremlins

Roald Dahl, Artists and Writers Guild, The Disney Studios

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dark Horse Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $2.31

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( D ) -> Dahl, Roald

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Published in 1943 and long unavailable, Dark Horse Books is proud to present this landmark book from the author of such beloved tales as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda. Digitally restored, this remarkable presentation of Dahl's classic story, lavishly illustrated by the artists of the Walt Disney Studios, will delight readers of all ages! The Gremlins is the story of Gus, a British World War II fighter pilot, who during the Battle of Britain turned to look out on the wing of his plane only to see an amazing sight: a little man, no more than six inches tall with horns growing from his head, drilling a hole in the plane's wing. Gus was the first man to ever see a Gremlin, and what happened after that would change the war, and the world, forever. Bought by Walt Disney to be produced as an animated motion picture (and considered to be the first story featuring the mythical airplane sabotaging creatures known as Gremlins), the project was ultimately shelved and is reprinted here for the first time in over 60 years.

The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)

Emily Little

Amazon Price: $3.99 List Price: $3.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Random House Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 112 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good Enough 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book was good enough, or at least better than nothing, but considering the excitement of the topic it could have been written in a MUCH more engaging manner. The sentences are short and choppy and the whole narrative is just a bit blah. It didn't even mention that Helen was "the face that launched a thousand ships." How can you tell the story of the Trojan war without mentioning that?

Overall, though, it was a good way to tell the story to my first grader. I'll still keep my eyes open for a more exciting version.

The kids loved it 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Although it is written in a more no-nonsense, simplistic,and factual style than many other books on the topic, my kids (ages 6-12) were enthralled. They talked about it constantly for many days after.

Editorial Review:

Illus. in full color. "An ancient history lesson emerges from this account of the way the Greeks tricked the Trojans and rescued Helen of Troy. The book is well tailored to younger readers with careful explanations and short sentences; a pronunciation guide is appended. Drawings portray the story's main events. A nice supplement to units on ancient Greece or mythology."--Booklist.  

Soldier X

Don L. Wulffson

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Puffin Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $0.80

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Holocaust
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Military & Wars
Subjects -> Teens -> History & Historical Fiction -> Historical Fiction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Separate Peace on the Eastern Front 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In his native Germany, he's 16-year-old Erik Brandt, but when he's sent to the eastern front in the desperate waning days of WWII, Erik's bilingual upringing (one set of grandparents is Russian) allows him to become Aleksandr Dukhanov. The problem? With the front shifting weekly due to offenses and counteroffenses, Erik/Aleksandr finds himself confronted one moment with one side, one moment with another, as he is torn loose as a refuge after graphically-described attacks.

Interesting? You bet. As a war writer, Wulffson has done his homework. The tale of a boy forced to be a man is common enough in this genre, but this particular boy (who adopts X as a nickname) is an especially compelling case, and Wulfsson's afterword tells us it was based on a real case. Certainly the history he cites is accurate, and the descriptions of trench warfare are eerily realistic as well.

Eventually this war story morphs into a war/love story with the introduction of Tamara, whom X works beside in a makeshift Russian hospital. But the spirit of the book remains with the war, and the theme is deeply entrenched in the ironies of a soldier who can not only fight equally and reasonably for BOTH sides, but can befriend citizens and fighters for both sides as well. The enemy, then, is war itself -- war and the hell it unleashes.

This book has little profanity but much violence. Still, it is well-written, and reluctant readers (especially boys) who are interested in history and war will quickly become spellbound by the narrative. The novel can be enjoyed by adults as well as teens. A real winner, X marks the spot -- and if you had any misconceptions about war being a romantic and exciting thing, SOLDIER X will strike it out of you forever.

Editorial Review:

Sixteen-year-old Erik Brandt barely knows what Germany is fighting for when he is drafted into Hitler's army in 1944. Sent to the killing fields of the Eastern Front, he is surrounded by unimaginable sights, more horrific than he ever thought possible. It's kill or be killed, and it seems clear that Erik's days are numbered. Until, covered in blood and seriously injured, he conceives of another way to survive. Filled with gritty and visceral detail, Soldier X will change the way every reader thinks about the reality of war.

Daniel's Story

Carol Matas

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 193 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( M ) -> Matas, Carol

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 72 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Daniels Story 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Daniels Story is about the holocaust. This story is very interesting, sometimes I would gasp at some of the parts in the story. This story can be sad at times because the Germans where being very unkind to the Jewish children and adults. Germans would put the Jews in camps and put them in gas chambers, put them in a flaming fire, or even shot them in the head! When the Germans where getting the Jews out of there houses they would throw them out the windows! (Newborns,3,4,5,6,7...years old still out the windows!)It was very hard to listen to and it was very rude. They where trying to take over the world so they could have it them selves! I really injoyed reading this book because it was interesting and educating in almost every way! I dislike what the Germans did to the Jews, it was very cruel. This is actually the only holocaust book I've ever read, but atleast I can say it was the best!

Editorial Review:

Daniel, a composite character fashioned to reflect the experiences of millions of children during the Holocaust, describes his family's lives in pre-Nazi Frankfurt, their deportation to a ghetto, and their experiences in concentration camps. Reprint.

Fields of Fury: The American Civil War

James M. McPherson

Amazon Price: $16.76 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Atheneum Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $2.46

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Military & Wars

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Civil War historian James M. McPherson's Fields of Fury does for kids what the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom did for adults.

The well-organized, well-executed, kid-friendly history of the Civil War was a brilliant idea if there ever was one. It's difficult to imagine anyone doing a better job than McPherson at breaking down this complex, interrelated series of events into such compelling and easily digestible chunks. Except for a handful of longer entries, each major battle and section receives a single, concise, two-page spread that includes McPherson's summary and analysis, eyewitness accounts from all sides of the conflict (many from kids!), a few "Quick Facts," as well as carefully chosen maps, photographs, and other illustrations (some of which, appropriately, border on the macabre, a fact kids will appreciate). Fields of Fury also includes a glossary, an index, a list of related Web sites, a bibliography, and a timeline in the endpapers.

McPherson succeeds not just by grabbing attention and keeping it, but by doing so with such economy--and never without context that relates each entry back to the whole. (In fact, grownups who lacked the time or interest to weather McPherson's 904-page Battle Cry shouldn't be surprised if they find themselves "borrowing" Fields of Fury after their kids hit the sack.) (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

Two Girls of Gettysburg

Lisa Klein

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $7.13

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Military & Wars
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

Lizzie and Rosanna are cousins. But when the Civil War breaks out, fifteen-year-old Lizzie finds herself committed to the cause of the Union, while Rosanna is swept up in the passions of the old south—and in her love for a young Confederate officer. Torn in their alliances, yet as devoted as sisters, each girl finds herself grappling with the senseless brutality of war, and the sacrifices that must be made in order to survive. It will take one of the war’s bloodiest battles—fought on the farmlands of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—to bring them together again. Unflinching in its portrayal of war, and inspiring in its depiction of two resilient young women, this is a historical novel of exceptional depth and reach.

Meet Molly: An American Girl (American Girls Collection)

Valerie Tripp

Amazon Price: $6.95 List Price: $6.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Girl Publishing Inc Amazon Marketplace: 397 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Military & Wars

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Molly is Magnificent 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Molly is a girl whose father is serving in the army during World War 2. Living in this time has its own problems. For instance, Molly's mom helps with the war effort by planting a victory garden. Molly is typical of any girl during that time period. As is standard with the American Girls series, Molly's character is consistent with the historic facts of the times. Living during a time of change and war in America as a history lesson is explore well through this book for girls. Also recommended with the theme of living during a time of change and war in America is Lucy and the Liberty Quilt of the Gifted Girls Series, which captures September 11.

FANTASTIC!!!! 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

As with all the other books by American girl, the Molly series is simply FANTASTIC!!!!! Molly is a girl growing up right in the middle of World War 11. Molly's dad is serving as a docter in England and her mom works at the Red Cross center, leaving the house to be tended by the bossy housekeeper, Mrs. Gilford. But the thing Molly likes the least about her home isn't a thing at all-it's her older brother, Ricky. Ricky is allways teasing Molly and her best friends, but on Halloween night he goes one step to far. The girls sre going to get back at him, but will they do? And what did Ricky do to make them so mad? you'll just have to find out by reading the book! And don't forget the others in the serires!

Editorial Review:

While her father is away fighting in World War II, Molly finds her life full of change as she eats terrible vegetables from the victory garden and plans revenge on her brother for ruining her Halloween.

Gleam and Glow

Eve Bunting

Amazon Price: $7.00 List Price: $7.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Voyager Books Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $3.24

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Bunting, Eve

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

AWSOME!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This Book, Gleam and Glow, by Ebe Bunting is an awsome book, the main character who tells the story is a young boy named victor, his father has to go to the underground to fight in a war. Victor, his sister Marina, and there mama have to leave soon to, so they can cross the border before they get attacked!!! One day a man comes with some fish, that he can't carry any more, mama finally agrees to take the fish from him, and Marina has already named them, Gleam, and Glow, but they agree that when they leave in three days, that they cannot take the fish with them. Before the family leaves, they slip the fish into there backyard pond, and hope they will survive. They start there journey to the border, when they get there they will be safe.
Will they see there dad?
Is there dad alive?
Did Gleam And Glow make it?
Did the house survive,
and most important,
did the family make it
READ THIS BOOK TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS, I would recomend it to ANYONE, my teacher read it to us, and I am in 6th grade, and I still thought is was awsome!!!!! READ READ READ!!!!!

Editorial Review:

Inspired by real events, master storyteller Eve Bunting recounts the harrowing yet hopeful story of a family, a war--and a dazzling discovery.