Maureen E. Green

A different gently illustrated read-aloud children's tale from a 'worm's-eye' point of view.An exciting day at Squirm Worm School Tested by a giant robot bird and challenged by natural threats above and below ground, some important life lessons are learned.

A riveting true story of one family -- and one 6-year-old boy in particular -- caught up in the displacement of children as World War II hit the UK. 1.5 Million children, pregnant women and other vulnerable people such as the disabled, were evacuated to safer countryside locations in just two days. It was 18 July 1940, when the British government declared Guernsey an open port and communicated this to the Germans. Families had the hard decision as to whether their children would stay during a German occupation or be evacuated to England. In Guernsey, the evacuation, timed to happen the day after the announcement, was organized by local schools. The evacuees expected to be in England for a few weeks, but the German occupation of Guernsey Island on 30th June 1940 turned into five years and four months of family separation. No one could have predicted that the evacuation of Guernsey would last five years. Older children who were evacuated to England found jobs, fell in love, and decided to stay in the places where they had been settled. Some young children were eager to return to Guernsey, but found it difficult to re-acquaint themselves with their real families. Still other children returned but felt torn because they had been so happy with the foster parents with whom they were placed. This is the story of one such family, and a six-year-old who becomes separated from them and somehow manages to survive and transcend all challenges. I can't help but wonder how the young children of today would do in similar circumstances. This is a tale that certainly makes us think.

The recent past is becoming history at a frantic pace; we - that's you and me - have a real responsibility to fill the gap in the social history of the 20th century. Today, the extended family rarely has an opportunity to sit down and share stories from the past. This has brought about a scarcity of social history for the 20th century and created a virtual chasm of lost information. Our generation is the only one that can provide the stories and the information to do this. Our experiences and lessons learned really do matter as they provide the background for the attitudes and behaviours of our children and grandchildren as they struggle to find meaning in their own lives. There are worlds of meaning to be expressed - and it's our place to provide that. For the well-being of future generations, we have a responsibility to record our memoirs in a manner that can be kept for future understanding as well as for amusement. As you read through this guidebook, you can use the provided pages to capture and jot down the fleeting memories that may be triggered, as you relate the words to your own life experiences. This can become a rich collection of triggers for your writing as you move on to create your own memoir stories to share with your loved ones . . . and others who will enjoy and benefit from them. Don't wait; begin to gather your memories today.