In Flanders Field

By Norman Jorgensen & Brian Harrison-Lever

Reviewed by Annaleise Byrd

In Flanders Fields was published in 2002 and won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award in 2003. It has remained in print for 24 years and has now been re-released as a smaller hardback edition for Fremantle Press’s 50th birthday. This book was a debut for both author Norman Jorgensen and illustrator Brian Harrison-Lever. Jorgensen has gone on to write eleven more books for children, including The Last Viking series with James Foley, while Harrison-Lever has illustrated several other books, including another war story: Photographs in the Mud by Dianne Wolfer.

This touching picture book is set in the trenches during World War One. It is Christmas Day, the guns stop firing and the mail is delivered. Heartbreaking losses are hinted at: ‘Sadly, many letters and parcels have to be returned to the sack.’ The main character, whose name we never learn, observes a red robin caught in barbed wire in No Man’s Land. He ties a white scarf on his bayonet, emerges slowly from his trench and rescues the bird – unharmed by the enemy soldiers whose guns are trained on him. He returns safely to the trench, the strains of ‘Stille Nacht’ behind him as his own comrades complete the verse of ‘Silent Night’ in English.

This story deals with the tragedy of war in a gentle and child-appropriate way. While there are guns in hands and fallen soldiers (even a skeleton) visible in No Man’s Land, these harsh realities are softened by the core story of a tender-hearted young man rescuing an injured creature – both of whom survive the encounter. In addition to its themes of war, animal care and common humanity, In Flanders Fields is a wonderful portrayal of masculine sensitivity and courage. It is a reminder that softness and hope can still be found in the harshest of places.

Harrison-Lever’s pencil-style drawings feature only occasional use of colour: brown for a rifle, skin tones on the soldiers’ faces and – most notably – bright red on the robin’s breast. These pops of red match the poppies pictured amongst rows of crosses on the final page, above the stanza of John McRae’s famous poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’, that speaks of bravely singing larks ‘scarce heard amid the guns below’. With one or two sentences per page, this book is the perfect length for a mid to upper primary read-aloud around ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day or when studying WWI.

Teaching Notes

Fremantle Press 2002

Norman Jorgensen

Annaleise Byrd is the author of middle grade portal fantasies Losing the Plot and Down the Plot Hole, and the picture books You Are Not a Pup!