Warriors Who Wrote for the Young

“Premised on the seeming paradox of warriors who went through often searing combat and who then wrote books for children” (p. 3), this anthology explores how their wartime experiences influenced and inspired a dozen war veterans to become authors of notable works for children and young adults.

The essays explore how these author’s wartime experiences influenced their writing for children. For some it was a form of therapy, to process what they seen and done, for others a way to offer insights about the human condition, or to suggest some of the grimmer possibilities of life, and for others to tell of grand adventures.

The wartime experiences of each of these authors varied greatly, from serious combat at the front, at sea, or in the air, inflicting and incurring harm, to intelligence service or staff duties far from the fighting. The essays examine the different paths and purposes that led each to write for children.

Six of the authors served in World War I,

• A.A. Milne, who served in the trenches, went on to create Winnie-the-Pooh.
• Hugh Lofting, another veteran of the trenches, became the author of the Doctor Dolittle series.
• J.R.R. Tolkien, likewise a veteran of the trenches, who gave us The Hobbit, for children, and Lord of the Rings
• W.E. Johns, who had served as a cavalryman and later in the RAF, wrote about the fictional Royal Flying Corps pilot James Biddlesworth Bigglesworth
• C.S. Lewis, who also served in the trenches, and became the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and many other works..
• E. Syney Bowen, an American who served in the RAF, went on to write about Dave Dawson, a young American caught up in the German invasion of France in 1940 who joined the RAF and later served in in the USAAF.

The other six authors served in the Second World War,

• Ian Fleming, whose wartime service as a naval intelligence officer inspired the James Bond novels, and also Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, “a James Bond book for children.” (p. 8)
• Elizabeth “Betty” P. McIntosh, an intelligence operative with the OSS in Asia, wrote two books for children to help explain the Cold War.
• Roald Dahl served in the RAF, and wrote Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and other fantasy novels that featured heroic children, with many events drawn from his wartime experiences.
• J.D. Salinger, an infantryman from D-Day to war’s end, wrote the young adult classic A Catcher in the Rye to explore issues such as loss of innocence.
• Charles Schulz, who also served in northwestern Europe through the end of the war, went on to create the cartoon strip Peanuts, which often dealt with ideas about conflict and war.
• Lloyd Alexander was an intelligence operative in Britain and northwestern Europe, and wrote a many fantasy novels for younger readers, most famously The Chronicles of Prydain, dealing with war and conflict, often in worlds inspired by places where he had served.

From Soldier to Storyteller is worthwhile reading not only for insights into how their wartime service influenced these veterans to write for young people, but also because it shows us how unique each one’s war was.

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Note: From Soldier to Storyteller is also available in e-editions.

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