This year my daughter and I chose the book The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, for our book club. We absolutely loved this book! It is a children’s historical fiction novel set in London during World War II. The main character, Ada, is ten years old and has a clubfoot. She and her little brother, Jamie are evacuated from London to the countryside to live with Susan Smith. It is there that Ada falls in love with a horse named Butter and learns her true potential. It is incredibly moving story that will make you want more. In fact, there is a second book entitled, The War I Finally Won, that my daughter could not wait to start after we finished this book.
For decorations, I found some English flags at our local Party Store and I printed out some posters at Kinkos and mounted them onto a foam board. And of course I had to get a miniature horse to represent one of my daughter’s favorite characters.
For each guest, I purchased a World War II Replica Ration Book and Identity Card. The Ration Books contained stamps for meat, eggs, sugar, etc. It gives you a deeper appreciation for what everyday life was like back then.
For our book club I thought we should have tea. With that in mind I set out my favorite English tea cups and served English Breakfast Tea.
For food I chose items that were served during the war. CrissyDesignCo helped me design these menu cards which I set out at each place setting. The menu consisted of Biscuits and Jam, Cornbeef Hash, Woolton pie and Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake with Chocolate Filling.
In case you are wondering what Woolton Pie is, it is basically a vegetable pot pie that was commonly served in Britain during the War when meat was rationed. See my blog for the recipe that I used. Even my daughter it tasted good.
After we ate we discussed the book. It was easy to find discussion questions online but we also added some questions that we thought were good conversation topics.
For an activity my daughter thought that we should write letters to serviceman. We found the organization called Operation Gratitude. Check out their website for ways that you can help which include writing thank you letters and making paracord bracelets. These bracelets not only look cool but can be used to save a life in an emergency.
If you are looking for a book to add to your child’s summer book list, we definitely recommend The War that Saved My Life.
Photography by: S.Wolfe Photography
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