Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion

Much has been written about war and remembrance, but very little of it has been for young children. As questions come from a young grandchild, his grandpa talks about how, as a very young man, he was as proud as a peacock in uniform, busy as a beaver on his Atlantic crossing, and brave as a lion charging into battle. Soon, the old mans room is filled with an imaginary menagerie as the child thinks about different aspects of wartime. But as he pins medals on his grandpas blazer and receives his own red poppy in return, the mood becomes more somber.

Outside, the crowd gathered for the veterans parade grows as quiet as a mouse, while men and women — old and young — march past in the rain. A trumpet plays and Grandpa lays a wreath in memory of his lost friend. Just then, the child imagines an elephant in the mist. “Elephants never forget,” he whispers to his grandpa. “Then lets be elephants,” says the old man, as he wipes water from his eyes and takes his grandsons hand.

Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion has relevance to a growing number of families, as new waves of soldiers leave home.

Award-winning author Jane Barclay is a tea-drinking, dog-walking, house-cleaning, lawn-cutting, short-order cook and writer. Besides writing books for children, she also does freelance work and her articles have appeared in both The Gazette and The National Post. Jane lives with her husband in Pointe Claire, Quebec. Their three sons occasionally drop in to pat the dog and visit the fridge.

Renné Benoit was born and raised in Nepean, Ontario, and she is the illustrator of numerous award-winning picture books, including the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award-nominated Goodbye to Griffith Street by Marilynn Reynolds and Tale of a Great White Fish by Maggie De Vries, both recipients of the Christie Harris Illustrated Childrens Literature Prize. Her book Lily and the Paper Man, written by Rebecca Upjohn was a Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award winner. Benoit lives in Southern Ontario with her husband, their daughter, and two dogs.