E. wanted to re-read Goodnight, Mr. Tom, which she read last year, and so we're reviewing some aspects of World War II. Here is a site that provides excellent background reading for the book. Here, BBC provides letters of children who were evacuated to the countryside during the Blitz. Here is BBC's rationing challenge. This site also provides text and photographs for background on the Blitz.
For broader emotional context--such as "this is the sort of thing that grownups were coping with in Britain during the War"--this BBC site has an informative overview (including a good map, which always helps us) of the rescue at Dunkirk. Here is BBC's overall lesson plan page regarding what life was like for children during the War. And Masterpiece Theater did a powerful rendition of the book.
