Remembering John McCrae

Reviewed: November 5, 2009
By: Linda Granfield
Publisher: Scholastic Books
38 pages, $16.99

Where would Canadian Remembrance Day ceremonies be without someone reading or reciting “In Flanders Fields”?

This is the story of the poem’s author, John McCrae, a biography for 8 to 11 year olds with lots of photos and illustrations to help set his life in context. The story is well laid out in two page spreads that combine text and graphics in an interesting way, each spread being the equivalent of a short chapter in the man’s life.

I was not aware that that McCrae had had a stint as a northern explorer in the years before the war, spending the summer of 1910 exploring around Hudson’s Bay, nor was I aware that he had served in the Boer War before his involvement in World War I.

Again, this is a fine little book with lots in it for everyone.

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