March 12, 2015

Finest Hour 158, Spring 2013

Page 56

By Suzanne Sigman & Amy Cohn

War Dogs: Churchill and Rufus, by Kathryn Selbert. Charlesbridge, hardbound, color illus., 48 pp., $17.95, E-book $9.95.

At last there is a picture book about Churchill we can recommend unreservedly. It is billed for ages 7-10, but children as young as five should find this an intriguing and worthwhile story. The text features London, Churchill and Rufus, his beloved miniature poodle.

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

More

The action begins with the advent of war in 1939 and culminates with Churchill’s return to Chartwell in 1945. Along with the primary narrative, Churchill’s own words tell a parallel story: a Churchill quote appears on most double-page spreads. Together, these presentations paint a clear and insightful picture of Churchill’s wartime leadership. For example, every day Rufus visits “Winston’s secret office, hidden beneath the buildings of London. Messages chatter through typewriters, and candy-colored phones rattle and ring. News arrives from all corners of the globe.”

The Churchill quote incorporated into the illustration, from August 1940, reads: “The road to victory may not be so long as we expect. But we have no right to count upon this. Be it long or short, rough or smooth, we mean to reach our journey’s end.”

Churchill speaks in the House of Commons, tours bombed London neighborhoods, and waves from a balcony on V-E Day. Finally Churchill “is no longer needed in the bunker. It’s time for a new beginning for him and Rufus….They rest in the country at last, two war dogs.”

The book is notable for historical accuracy and the telling details that capture a very particular time and place. The illustrations, all double-page spreads, not only support the text—they extend it. Selbert, in her first book, employs a muted, martial palette of greens, browns, grays, and blacks, executed in somber acrylics. The London skyline at night, smoke-filled and streaked with ash and cinders, and the dome of St. Paul’s still standing, comprise the dramatic centerspread.

Minor nits are unimportant. Until 1978, speeches in the Commons were not recorded, so microphones should not be there; the green benches in the Commons are of leather, not velvet; Chequers should be called the prime minister’s country house, rather than Churchill’s. The fact that Rufus surely did not sit on the front bench while Churchill spoke in the Chamber, “his tail drumming against the seat back,” we deem acceptable artistic license.

Back matter includes a 1939-45 timeline, a page on “Churchill and Poodles,” another for “The Man Himself,” a book list, websites, a bibliography and, most happily, “Quotation Sources.” It’s never too early to teach another generation of potential scholars to document their quotations!

Ms. Sigman coordinated the Churchill Centre’s educational activities for seven years. Ms. Cohn is co-author of From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folksongs and Abraham Lincoln, a picture biography. She teaches children’s literature at Endicott College and Lesley University.