It’s 1946, and Miss Drury looks over the pupils in her class. She’s been teaching a long time and has already spotted the potential in her students. There is one boy in particular, named Solomon, and he is the first to present his project this morning.

When he tells the class it consists of letters to and from his cousin Bernie who fought in the war, someone snorts. Miss Drury silences this and asks Solly to continue, with her own memories of war and grief pressed down deep.

Solly begins to read…

Letters go back and forth between these cousins. Solly is much younger than Bernie who was 15 the last time he saw him in 1939. At first they talk of football, marbles and music, but these fun memories are soon brushed aside with news of train journeys across Poland to safety for Bernie, and bombing of homes and buildings from Solly in London.

Even as their lives change in Poland then Russia, and in London and the countryside, the cousins continue to write, sharing their experiences, their fears and sorrows. There are badgers and a baby bear, bombs hunger, and loss.

When Solly finally finishes reading the letters, his classmates are spellbound in front of him – all wanting to know what happened to Bernie and the bear, but too afraid to ask.

This story written in the form of letters from one cousin to another, is not only highlighting the bond between them, but an insight into their experiences in World War II. One older than the other and Polish, faces hunger, work camps and the war as a soldier, the other as a child in the Blitz then one of thousands sent to strangers in the countryside for safety.

Michael Rosen has written this story to commemorate Remembrance of losses to us all through wars and more recently the global Covid 19 pandemic. Remembrance goes to all that braved battles against bullets and bombs, but also the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK and all around the world, facing the unknown and helping people in hospital and in homes. Please Write Soon reflects on sacrifice and service, and to those lost but not forgotten.

This story touches on subjects such as the huge losses at the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Bethnal Green Station tragedy, and the Holocaust, but in a compassionate and considered way, so young readers aged 9+ can come away with some understanding of this terrible time in World History.

Michael Foreman has illustrated this large format story with pencil and water colour in only greys and reds, depicting the years between 1939 and 1946. 

Please Write Soon is inspired by a true Rosen family story, beginning with a photograph of the real ‘Bernie’ in the opening pages.

A step up from a picture book, this is a welcome resource for children aged 9+, both in the classroom and at home.

Author – Michael Rosen

Illustrator – Michael Foreman

Age 9+

For more book reviews on War see here

(2022, Scholastic, Action, Animals, Bullies, Conflict, Courage, Family, Grief, Growing up, Historical, Poverty, Prejudice, School, War, Bear, Cousins, Trains, Bombs, Nazis, Monte Cassino, Battle, Russian Work Camps, Letters, Hope, Remembrance, Sacrifice, Service)