The Peacock (Orca Echoes)
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, a peacock shows up in Barbara’s backyard, terrifying her mother. At the same time, Barbara’s father is leaving to go to a camp for displaced persons in war-ravaged Europe, hoping to hire tailors for his company—a move intended to help the tailors and their families gain entry into Canada. With her father away for weeks, her mother falling ever more depressed, and her two brothers off to camp, it’s up to Barbara to figure out what to do about the peacock.
Barbara is a realistically depicted girl of the era. She has a narrow worldview, appropriately centered on her family, school, and neighborhood. The events of the war and the events following it are stories in the newspaper that her parents sometimes talk about. Terrible, but not immediate to her life.
The author has done a super job of introducing this difficult history to a child reader learning about World War II for the first time. The lighthearted challenge of the peacock balances the heaviness of the war and its aftermath. With lively illustrations, this book would be an especially good classroom read. Ages 6-8.
