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Children's Fiction Multigenerational

Painted Fences

by (author) Sara Cassidy

illustrated by Sydney Barnes

Publisher
Heritage House Publishing
Initial publish date
Jun 2021
Category
Multigenerational, Military & Wars, General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781772033526
    Publish Date
    Jun 2021
    List Price
    $19.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781772033519
    Publish Date
    Feb 2021
    List Price
    $19.95

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Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 4 to 8
  • Grade: p to 3

Description

A charming and evocative story within a story, exploring themes of wartime resourcefulness, local history, friendship, and the reverberations of the past in the present day.

On a beautiful spring day in Victoria’s James Bay neighbourhood, eight-year-old Esther takes a walk with her great-grandfather on his birthday. On the same street and the same date, but seventy-five years earlier, two enterprising young boys go door to door offering to give people’s fences a fresh coat of paint so that they can earn a few extra cents in an era of wartime austerity.

These parallel timelines converge as Esther’s great-grandfather pauses to show her an old fence with multi-coloured layers of peeling paint. He recognizes the avocado-green layer that he painted with his friend one spring day, way back in 1945—an unforgettable birthday that ended up being V-E Day, when the Allies defeated the Nazis in World War II. Through whimsical illustrations and vivid characters, this simple story shows how a pivotal event in history affects ordinary people and brings generations closer together.

About the authors

Les livres de Sara Cassidy ont &eacutet&eacute finalistes pour de nombreux prix : le Chocolate Lily Award pour Black Gold et Blackberry Juice ; le Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award pour A Boy Named Queen ; le Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize pour Skylark ainsi que le Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. Deux de ses titres, A Boy Named Queen et Double Play, ont &eacutet&eacute s&eacutelectionn&eacutes par la Junior Library Guild. Sara Cassidy a publi&eacute de nombreux recueils de po&eacutesie, œuvres de fiction et ouvrages documentaires pour adultes. Elle vit &agrave Victoria en Colombie-Britannique.

Sara Cassidy's profile page

Sydney Barnes is an illustrator and graphic designer with a life-long passion for books. She holds a Master of Publishing degree from Simon Fraser University and runs a freelance design business called SJBarnes Design. For more information, visit sjbarnes.com.

Sydney Barnes' profile page

Editorial Reviews

Painted Fences does an excellent job portraying what life was like for a child at the time of World War II. ... There are lovely sentiments and learning for children ... with discussion and conversation about Remembrance Day, World War II, and also intergenerational memoirs and the passing of time."

Other titles by Sara Cassidy

Other titles by Sydney Barnes

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