The Little Ships: A Story of the Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk - Softcover

Borden, Louise

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847800815 ISBN 13: 9781847800817

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2010

In May 1940, many countries in Europe were at war with Nazi Germany. Half a million British and French soldiers were trapped on three sides in northern France by German troops and tanks. The only escape for the Allied army was the sea. An incredible armada of over 800 craft, including Royal Navy ships and a flotilla of small river and coastal boats, thereafter known as the little ships was assembled on the south-eastern coast of England. They sailed across the English Channel to Dunkirk in France to rescue the beseiged troops. The wide Dunkirk beach was covered with men who were hungry and thirsty, with horses running loose from their French riders, with dozens of barking dogs, with trucks and equipment - the disarray of an army on the run. In her vivid and deeply moving text, Louise Borden tells the story of one small fishing craft from Deal that was part of the armada. It is told from the point of view of a young girl who donned her brother's old clothes and sailed with her father on the family boat, the Lucy. The story of that incredible venture is part truth, part fiction. It could have happened. Michael Foreman, who as a boy during World War II lived in a small fishing town on the English coast, has created remarkable pictures that, together with Louise Borden's spare and dramatic text and an interesting introductory note by Christopher Dreyer, who commanded the Royal Navy ship MTB 102 in the armada, bring vividly alive this historic rescue in which over 300,000 men were saved.

Review:

The striking and evocative text is equally matched with the distinctive and powerful illustrations from Michael Foreman. --School Librarian

About the Author:

Louise Borden graduated from Denison University with a degree in history. For several years she taught young children and later was part owner of a bookshop in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to writing children's books, she also speaks to students about the writing process. She has written a number of picture books, including Just in Time for Christmas, illustrated by Ted Lewin, The Watching Game, illustrated by Teri Weidner, and, with co-author Mary Kay Kroeger, Paperboy, illustrated by Ted Lewin. Louise lives with her family in Terrace Park, Ohio. Michael Foreman trained at the Lowestoft Art School, St. Martin's School of Art, and the Royal College of Art in London. He has illustrated numerous books for children and has also written and illustrated many books of his own, including War Game, a moving Christmas story based on a true incident in World War I, and War Boy, an account of his own childhood in England, which was one of The New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Books of 1990 and winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. Michael lives in Putney.

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1847800815
• ISBN 13: 9781847800817
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Foreman Michael