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The Orphans of Normandy : A True Story of World War II Told Through Drawings by Children
Allons, enfants, vite, vite! When the Allies invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944, one hundred orphaned girls were forced to flee their orphanage in Caen, France, the only home many of them had ever known. They began a trek on foot to a safer location, to Beaufort-en-Vallée, a town one hundred and fifty miles away. As the war raged on all sides of them, the girls, led by their teachers, bravely marched south, keeping one step ahead of the fighting and waving little white flags for protection. Told through their own drawings and words, this moving and timely book details their experiences on their journey to safety.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2003
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March 21, 2012My Grandma Jeanette Renaud and Great Aunt Emma were two of the orphan girls whose story and artwork are shared.
March 23, 2022
The publication is a touching story on the plight of small group of orphans forced to leave their known home in war torn France during the Normandy invasion.
February 21, 2014
The story of my Grandma Jeanne and her sister Emma and many other brave young orphan girls during World War II is incredible, inspiring and heart-warming. I am so proud to be the grand-daughter of such an amazing woman. First-hand accounts and drawings by the girls make this book come to life. I highly recommend it!
February 21, 2011
Allons, enfants, vite, vite!
La Maison du Clos in St Andre sur Orne in France was both a home and school to 100 orphaned girls aged 3 to 19. However, just as the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces was beginning, on June 5-6, 1944, the girls were forced to leave their school in the middle of the night for their own safety. Accompanied by their teachers, the girls, some with no shoes, left with nothing more than the little plaid dress they were all wearing and each carrying a blanket, some bread and a little white flag.
The story of their school and journey is told through the drawing of some of the girls. One page has the drawing, with the name and age of the girl, and a brief description of what the drawing represents written by her; the page opposite that is the English translation.
At first, the girls and their teachers were able to hide from the bombing in an iron mine, but the Germans soon found them and on July 14, forced them to leave. The school took to the road, along with other refugees who also had no place else to go, despite the bombing and machine-gunning going on all around them. The story continues, each drawing dated by the girl who did it, and relating where they were and what they witnessed along the road. Whenever a plane spotted them, usually an Allied plane, and started to descend for an attack, the girls would wave their little white flags and be left alone. Sometimes, the school managed to get a ride in carts, and they were often allowed to sleep in haystacks or haylofts along the way, sometimes they were even given milk to drink by kind farmers.
Altogether, the school spent 38 days in the old mine before being forced to evacuate, followed by 29 days of walking until they were finally safe behind the Allied line
Eventually the school settled in an old chateau just north of Paris, but they were pretty destitute. In her Afterword, Nancy Amis explains that her aunt, a French teacher named Agnes Amis was friends with the school’s directress, Yvonne Lesure. In 1946, Agnes Amis received a package from Mme. Lesure containing an explanation of the school's situation, a child’s dress and the illustrated journal of the journey the school had undertaken because of the invasion. It was the beginning of an exchange of letters and care packages to help the school get on it feet again and re-establish itself.
This is one of those amazing stories of survival that came out of the war – a tribute to the human spirit. It is especially poignant because it was written and illustrated by the girls themselves. I thought this book would be perfect for teaching since it could be used in language classes as well as social studies classes, but with the exception of this 9th grade lesson plan, Teacher, from The University of North Carolina, Charlotte, I found nothing.
Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this book.
The Orphans of Normandy is recommended for readers age 8-11
This book was borrowed from the Webster Branch of the NYPL
La Maison du Clos in St Andre sur Orne in France was both a home and school to 100 orphaned girls aged 3 to 19. However, just as the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces was beginning, on June 5-6, 1944, the girls were forced to leave their school in the middle of the night for their own safety. Accompanied by their teachers, the girls, some with no shoes, left with nothing more than the little plaid dress they were all wearing and each carrying a blanket, some bread and a little white flag.
The story of their school and journey is told through the drawing of some of the girls. One page has the drawing, with the name and age of the girl, and a brief description of what the drawing represents written by her; the page opposite that is the English translation.
At first, the girls and their teachers were able to hide from the bombing in an iron mine, but the Germans soon found them and on July 14, forced them to leave. The school took to the road, along with other refugees who also had no place else to go, despite the bombing and machine-gunning going on all around them. The story continues, each drawing dated by the girl who did it, and relating where they were and what they witnessed along the road. Whenever a plane spotted them, usually an Allied plane, and started to descend for an attack, the girls would wave their little white flags and be left alone. Sometimes, the school managed to get a ride in carts, and they were often allowed to sleep in haystacks or haylofts along the way, sometimes they were even given milk to drink by kind farmers.
Altogether, the school spent 38 days in the old mine before being forced to evacuate, followed by 29 days of walking until they were finally safe behind the Allied line
Eventually the school settled in an old chateau just north of Paris, but they were pretty destitute. In her Afterword, Nancy Amis explains that her aunt, a French teacher named Agnes Amis was friends with the school’s directress, Yvonne Lesure. In 1946, Agnes Amis received a package from Mme. Lesure containing an explanation of the school's situation, a child’s dress and the illustrated journal of the journey the school had undertaken because of the invasion. It was the beginning of an exchange of letters and care packages to help the school get on it feet again and re-establish itself.
This is one of those amazing stories of survival that came out of the war – a tribute to the human spirit. It is especially poignant because it was written and illustrated by the girls themselves. I thought this book would be perfect for teaching since it could be used in language classes as well as social studies classes, but with the exception of this 9th grade lesson plan, Teacher, from The University of North Carolina, Charlotte, I found nothing.
Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this book.
The Orphans of Normandy is recommended for readers age 8-11
This book was borrowed from the Webster Branch of the NYPL
November 6, 2015
The best children's book I have ever read to my children about WWII!
February 8, 2021
Not really a children's book. Perhaps for pre-teens. The true story of little girls in an orphanage in France during World War II. The Germans forced them out of their home and they set off on a very long trek until it was safe enough to find a new home. The author takes the journal that the illustrated journal that had been sent to her great-aunt by her friend, the directress of the school, years and years before. The author translated it and made the story she had heard for years and years into this book.
November 25, 2014
This book is written with firsthand accounts of simple statements and drawings from several orphan girls who had to quickly leave their loving orphanage/school in Normandy during World War II. Together, with their school mistress, they traveled on foot approximately 150 miles while watching aerial attacks and many other horrific scenes. A wonderful discussion book to share with your child, or a classroom when covering the far reaching effects of war.
April 27, 2017
True story about an orphanage in France that had to be evacuated when the invasion of Normandy began in 1944. The story is told in illustrations made by the girls from the orphanage about their experience. It took them over a month to find a safe place after taking refuge in a mine for over a month and walking a month. The illustrations are adorable. They are so well done it's hard to believe each one is done by a different girl.
December 5, 2014
An interesting slice of life. Drawings document an orphanage escape from final days of bombing in WW2.
December 6, 2021
powerful primary source
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