by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
Viking '
an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
2026
32 pages
ISBN: 9780593691717
What an impressive, informative picture book! Kudos to Sarah Glenn Marsh for bringint this important story to life and Becca Stadtlander who captures the action of American troops in Europe during WWII. This is the nearly forgotten, buried story of artists, painters, and musicians who helped confuse the enemy and keep thousands of Allied troops safe.
The world was at war and America needed troops. Most young men joined the the army; even those who were not the biggest and baddest. The Army used camouflage and "ghost" tactics to convince the enemy that the U,S. forces were much huger than fact. Painters like Charlie were assigned to a troop of a little over one thousand men. They were experts in the arts: music, painting and architecture. It was their job to convince the enemy troops that they were real.
Rubber tanks were painted to look real. The ghost troop moved them every few days. Not only that, they pretended to be fighting in the countryside, and they would wear uniforms and eat and drink in local towns, hoping spies would report their presence.
It was not until 1996 that the Ghost Army and their heroic deeds came to light. Saving over 40,000 troops with their artistry and deception, the Ghost Army was finally recognized in 2022 by President Joe Biden and awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their huge part in saving lives in WWII.
HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended. A must-have, must-read for every non-fiction collection and readers who love non-fiction will love this story.
Ages 5 and up. Not traditionally an easy picture book, this book has paragraphs not just a word or sentence every page. Great for early book reports with author's note of "behind the story" facts and further reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment