“Why did they do it?”: reading a children’s book about war

Canada and the Netherlands, A World War II Story, Canada en Nederland, Een Verhaal over de Tweede Wereldoorlog

Julia Sinke,
Books By Julia Sinke, 2025.

Very loud squawking noises outside our living room drew me to the window. I pulled out my binoculars to get a better view and met a disturbing sight. Eight magpies had ganged up on a young robin struggling to escape its captors. Feathers were flying, and after a lot of painful, desperate twitching the robin eventually lay still. Then the magpies fought each other to get the best piece of the bloody, mangled innards splayed on the pavement.

My grandsons and I love to watch the various species of birds that visit our feeders and birdbaths. We get excited when we see something that is particularly interesting. But I didn’t share this scene with them, nor take photos. It was horrifying. Not quite the peaceful picture of “all nature sings.”

So, how does one introduce young children to the potential for meanness and cruelty in nature – and the world?

A story of international friendship

Julia Sinke’s short new picture book, Canada and the Netherlands, A World War II Story (Canada en Nederland, Een Verhaal over de Tweede Wereldoorlog), explores the harshness of war with a focus on the international friendship developed between Canada and the Netherlands after Canadian troops liberated the Netherlands from the Nazis in May 1945.

At this time, both nations were reeling from the harsh reality of loss. Approximately 7,600 Canadian soldiers lost their lives liberating the Netherlands. Rows and rows of headstones in cemeteries in the Netherlands of men (most aged 18 to 25) said, “Remember them.” Many were nameless tombs.

The book is written with simple sentences on each page, in English and, below it, the Dutch translation. Most of the illustrations are what most readers would expect: photos of flags, mountains and windmills, skaters on ponds and canals and, of course, tulips. There are also a few graphic pictures related to the violence of war.

Those of you who grew up with Dutch writers like VanderHulst and Anne deVries (and I suspect there are a few in CC readership!) may be familiar with the rhetorical writing style of asking a question on each page, “Did you know. . .” (“Weet je wel?”)

The significance of sheltering a queen

I’m a post-war child of Dutch immigrants. We would often receive postcards in the mail (real mail!) from relatives in Holland featuring Dutch royalty. They loved their queen.

Sinke’s book relates how the Canadian government sheltered the Dutch Princess Juliana and her two children, Beatrix and Irene, in Ottawa, and how the Dutch flag flew from the Peace Tower when Juliana gave birth to her third child, Princess Margriet, while living in Canada. It would have been interesting and relevant to the theme of friendship if Sinke had also mentioned the designation of “extraterritorial” given to the maternity ward where Princess Juliana gave birth to Margriet, to ensure that the newborn could claim Dutch citizenship and be considered an heir in line to the throne.

As I read the story, I did wonder if Sinke would include the subsequent massive postwar emigration to Canada, but I later learned that she dealt with the resulting post-war migration to Canada in her first book, Anna’s Big Adventure.

Each year, the Dutch government donates thousands of tulips for the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa to show gratitude for the sacrifice of the Canadian troops, as well as for the shelter provided to the royal family during the war.

A tool for teaching about war

Sinke goes into the experience of the Hunger Winter and the devastating experiences of starvation. I felt that the book could have done even more to capture the enormity of war’s horror. I also would have appreciated a deeper exploration of the racism that fed the Holocaust. However, I recognize the complexity of writing about such heavy themes for children. Parents, grandparents and other adults still have the chance to elaborate on the details and themes as they deem appropriate.

I read this book to my six-year-old grandson. When it came to the page where Canadian soldiers sacrificed their lives, he asked, “Why did they do it?” I had no answer. He also didn’t know what tulip bulbs were, nor did he understand the references to a “liberator,” or “Allied forces.” So, readers around his age may have similar gaps and these details and terms are not explained. My generation (in Canada, at least) has been spared a war; yet many of those who volunteered (some even lying about their age to enlist) did so willingly. Why?

How do we prepare our children for the horror of war? Maybe we can’t. Just like I didn’t want to show my grandsons the magpies shredding the robin to bits. But I appreciate Sinke’s willingness to engage with the war experience by focusing on international friendships that emerged during this painful and confounding chapter of our history. Her book can work well as a point of entry. Adults who read it to their children, grandchildren or students can use it to start a conversation about racism or intolerance, and the importance of defending human dignity – topics that remain increasingly relevant in today’s world.