Walker Books ISBN 9781406380835; £6.99
What an interesting story, and an unusual approach to the starting months of World War One. Set in a village in Poland – which in 1914 didn’t exist as a country and was split between Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary – the story begins with a childish challenge to collect buttons from soldiers’ uniforms. Every one of a group of friends tries to become ‘King’ of the Buttons.
When a German aeroplane drops a bomb on the village the boys live in, the war comes to their remote part of Poland.[ Never mind that aeroplanes weren’t really able to drop bombs in 1914 – they certainly did in 1915.] Life will never be the same again, as Germans fight Russians, and village loyalties are split. In the middle of this the boys play an increasingly competitive game to see who can collect the best button from a uniform. As their rivalry deepens, so the war comes ever more forcefully into the village until finally most of the boys and the village are destroyed.
A very dark, but readable, story interweaves life and war in an interesting and unusual way. For those trying to understand lessons to be learnt from the centenary of the end of World War One this book provides plenty to think about. Upper K2 readers, especially boys, will be gripped.
Alf Wilkinson