Red Legs

Red Legs, written and illustrated by Ted Lewin, is an historical fiction picture book that I definitely found unique. The story starts out pretty normal- a young soldier during the civil war sits around the campfire at his campsite and writes his mom. We are taken through his nightly and daily activities that lead up to a big battle, including beating on the drum. The battle takes place and-this is the part that’s strange-the young soldier is shot in the chest. His body, lying in the grass with a gunshot in it, is pretty graphic for a children’s book. At first, when I saw the picture I thought, how could an author of a children’s book have the main character get shot and die? However, this was the twist. The last page reads,

“Stephen’s father helps him up. He and the others around him rise. They brush the dust and grass off their uniforms. They shake hands with the enemy. The battle is over. They can all go home because…”

and the reader turns the page and there are a few paragraphs talking about how the young solider could go home because it was a reenactment battle, but 100,000 children soldiers weren’t able to. A little strange, I thought, but kind of a different twist at the end. Besides that, I loved the pictures (in watercolor).