Every year on November 11th, Canadians pause to remember those who have served and sacrificed during times of conflict and war. These books encourage young readers to engage thoughtfully with what it means to reflect, remember, and give respect on Remembrance Day.
Picture Books
Anne of the Library-on-the-HillWritten by Catherine Little
Illustrated by Sae Kimura
Plumleaf Press, 2024
IL: Ages 6-10 RL: Grades 1-5
Growing up in the shadow of the Great War, Anne finds comfort in her neighbourhood library, where she loses herself in books, often imagining herself as part of the story. She particularly loves the books of LM Montgomery—and her imagination really takes off when she learns her beloved author is in town.
Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill sensitively portrays a young person coming to terms with grief and the losses of war and the comfort that can be found in a good book.
Girl Takes Drastic Step! How Molly Lamb Bobak Became Canada’s First Official Woman War Artist
Written by Jillian Dobson
Illustrated by Genevieve Simms
Nimbus Publishing, 2024
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades p-3
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades p-3
An inspiring picture book biography of the pioneering mid-century female visual artist and military officer who never gave up on her dream. Molly Lamb Bobak's uniquely crafted journal has allowed generations to understand what everyday life was like for Canadian women working as part of the war effort.
Lucky Dog Comes Home
Written by John Spray
Illustrated by Scot Ritchie
Pajama Press, 2025
IL: Ages 5-8 RL: Grades k-3
George lives a peaceful life on his family farm in Indiana until he is recruited for the US army for WWII. While George longed to go back home throughout the war, home is a very different place when he returns. His family farm has been sold and George must find a new job. Though he swore he would never wear a uniform again, George becomes a letter carrier. Then, something unexpected and miraculous happens—friendly neighborhood dogs begin following him on his daily route. As the parade of dogs quickly grows each day, so too does the joy spread in a community still healing from loss.
Marching North
Written by Yolanda T. Marshall
Illustrated by Lavrova Daria
Chalkboard Publishing, 2026
IL: Ages 5-10 RL: Grades k-5
When Aunty Evangelina gifts Abiola an old compass, it becomes more than just a keepsake; it symbolises direction, courage, and identity. She introduces Abiola to the remarkable legacy of Black Caribbean soldiers who served and fought for Canada during the First and Second World Wars. These men travelled from the warmth of their Caribbean nations to foreign battlefields, facing prejudice and hardship while remaining determined to serve with honour. Many returned to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, and community leaders. They were true heroes whose resilience helped shape Canada’s history.
This beautifully illustrated book not only inspires kids to stand up for what’s right but also educates and encourages them to appreciate the contributions of the remarkable Black Canadian soldiers.
Mira and Baku
Written by Sara Truuvert
Illustrated by Michelle Theodore
Annick Press, 2023
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades p-2
With the help of a magical friend, a young girl searches for her missing father in this poignant story set during Japanese Canadian incarceration in World War II.
Lushly illustrated by Michelle Theodore, this tender, moving picture book by Sara Truuvert explores the profound impacts of family separation and the different forms comfort can take for a child processing loss.
Muhammad’s Recipe for Remembering
Written by Maidah Ahmad
Illustrated by Shruti Prabhu
Annick Press, 2024
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades p-2
A moving picture book highlighting a young Muslim boy’s efforts to rediscover his family’s history in the World Wars.
With beautiful, detailed illustrations of historical scenes and Muhammad’s mosque, this is a tender and compassionate story of the importance of passing on memories and experiences through generations, especially of those who have been largely erased from mainstream narratives. A note from the author and other backmatter provide further historical context on Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu soldiers who served in the World Wars.
Whitey’s Journey: A Four-legged Soldier in the Second World War
Written by Kelsey Lonie
Illustrated by Renee Hansen
Heritage House Publishing, 2025
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades p-3
One day in 1939, a troop of Canadian soldiers was marching through town when a young collie pup named Whitey broke free of his leash and ran over to greet them. This began an unlikely friendship that deepened as the soldiers prepared to leave on a dangerous mission to fight in the Second World War [...] This true story of friendship, loyalty, heroism, and heartbreak reflects the strong bonds between humans and animals and the sacrifices both make in times of war.
Juvenile & Middle Grade
A Storm Unleashed
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada, 2025
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-7
After losing her mother as a young girl, twelve-year-old Mia is living in Berlin with her veterinarian father and beloved German shepherd, Max. Mia tries to focus on her hobbies, her studies and her trips to her grandparents’ farm where she cares for the animals she loves. But it’s 1935, and life has changed radically for Mia and her Jewish father over the last two years.
Antisemitism is now official state policy. At school, Mia is vilified and treated cruelly by her teachers and fellow students. Outside of school, she witnesses violence against her friends and family. And then suddenly a girl from the Nazi Youth tries to take Max. From that moment on, life becomes more and more dangerous for Mia and her father — who is now being forced to help the Nazis train Hitler’s army of dogs. Mia and her best friend, Frieda, must come up with a plan to navigate this new reality. But could it cost Mia more than she realizes?
Last Known Address: The Stumbling Stones of Europe
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press, 2026
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-7
Carefully hand-chiseled with names and dates, these small, brass plaques make up the largest monument to the Holocaust in the world. Today, you can find over 100,000 stones across Europe.
The Stumbling Stones Project was begun by artist Gunter Demnig as a way to remember that each victim of the Holocaust had a life that was terribly and tragically stolen. Each memorial plaque is placed outside the last voluntary address of the person—the homes from which they were arrested and often taken to concentration camps. Not all were Jewish, some were persecuted for being Romani, disabled, or queer, and not all shared the same fate. These stories include that of a resistance fighter, an art conservator, an Olympian, and the young Anne Frank. Take a journey around Europe to learn their stories.
Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor’s Story
Written by Setsuko Thurlow & Kathy Lowinger
Annick Press, 2025
IL: Ages 11-13 RL: Grades 6-8
When Setsuko Thurlow was thirteen, she witnessed one of history’s most horrific events. She experienced—and survived—the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to educate people about the catastrophe and to ensure that it never happens again.
Never Silent recounts Setsuko’s earliest memories of her happy life in Hiroshima, followed by the devastating firsthand impact she witnesses after the dropping of the atomic bomb, and finally traces the steps she takes to rebuild a life in the aftermath of her experiences. With informational text scattered throughout the book to give historical context for the places and events, readers are given a full and profoundly affecting picture of what it was like after the bomb dropped, the struggle to return to normalcy, and the plea for activism to ban nuclear weapons.
Stealing Home
Written by J. Torres
Illustrated by David Namisaton
Kids Can Press, 2021
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Sandy Saito is a happy boy who reads comic books and is obsessed with baseball—especially the Asahi team, the pride of his Japanese Canadian community. But when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, his life, like that of every other North American of Japanese descent, changes forever. This emotionally gripping graphic novel weaves a fictional story into a historically accurate, thoroughly researched account of the events surrounding the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II.
The War Lantern
Written by Philippa Dowding
DCB Young Readers, 2026
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-7
On February 27, 1941, bombs fall, families vanish, and the war lantern burns … In England, fifteen-year-old schoolboy Marcus isn’t supposed to tell anyone about his work at Parnall’s Aircraft Factory, not even his mother, for fear of Hitler’s spies. In Germany, fourteen-year-old Gisele’s baby brother is about to be taken away by Nazi officials, who deem him “life not worthy of life.” Overhead, Tail End Charlie, an underage Royal Air Force rear gunner, flies for a German steel factory behind a squadron of bombers.
Each lead seemingly separate lives, struggling to survive amid World War II, until the roar of bombs — and the silence in the aftermath — connects them all.
Inspired by her family history, Governor General’s Literary Award–winning author Philippa Dowding delivers a carefully researched and powerfully moving wartime story for young readers about family, connections, and resilience.
Words Matter: The Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, and the White Rose Resistance
Written by Anita Fitch Pazner
Illustrated by Sophie Casson
Groundwood Books, 2025
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-7
The White Rose Resistance was the German student movement that used the power of the written word to speak out against the Nazis during World War II. They worked in secret to distribute leaflets condemning the government’s actions at a time when doing so meant putting your life at risk. The story follows siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were instrumental members of the resistance.
Young Adult
Can Posters Kill? Antisemitic Propaganda and World War II
Written by Jerry Faivish with Kathryn Cole
Second Story Press, 2025
IL: Ages 12-18 RL: Grades 8-12
How did Hitler and the Nazi Party convince millions of people that the murder of Jews during the Holocaust was not only justifiable but correct? What can we learn from one of the most horrific times in history?
Can Posters Kill? uses rare, historical posters to take readers on a visual journey from medieval anti-Jewish artwork to the venomous Nazi propaganda of the Second World War. These posters show how powerful propaganda can be as a tool for spreading hate: how repetition, vivid imagery, and urgent messaging promote intense emotional reactions—fear, distrust, loyalty, revulsion—that can be used to create a coordinated campaign to impact the way we think. By understanding the visual language of propaganda from the past, we can learn to recognize and resist messages of hate—an essential skill in a digital world where information is spread in seconds.
Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Italian Canadian Internment in the Second World War
Written by Pamela Hickman & Jean Smith Vavalluzzo
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., 2025
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-12
When Canada declared war on Italy on June 10, 1940, the government used the War Measures Act to label all Italian citizens over the age of eighteen as enemy aliens. Those who had received Canadian citizenship after 1922 were also deemed enemy aliens. Immediately, the RCMP began making arrests. Men, young and old, and a few women were taken from their homes, offices, or social clubs without warning. In all, about 700 Italians and Italian-Canadians were imprisoned in internment camps, mainly in Ontario and New Brunswick.
Using historical photographs, paintings, documents and first-person narratives, this book offers a full account of this little-known episode in Canadian history.
Separated from Santo: The True Story of an Italian-Canadian Internee during the Second World War
Written by Brian Barazzuol
Illustrated by Cam Drysdale
Coloured by Alex Doftorenau
IL: Ages 12-18 RL: Grades 7-12
Told in dynamic graphic novel form, Separated from Santo depicts an individual who was mistreated, who persevered, and eventually was reunited with his family. Instead of being bitter towards adopted country, the family accepted the situation for what it was, and was thankful to build a home in such a great country. Decades later, apologies from the Canadian government acknowledged the injustice, though the incident reverberated through generations. Written by the great-grandson of Santo and Alice, this poignant and powerful story is a reminder to see the humanity behind every so-called “enemy.”
Book list curated by Spencer Miller