One winter morning, Barroux was walking down a street in Paris when he made an incredible discovery: the real diary of a soldier from the First World War. Barroux rescued the diary from a rubbish heap and illustrated the soldier's words. We don't know who the soldier is or what became of him. We just have his words, and in his own words and Barroux's extraordinary pictures, this is his story. Our soldier recounts the first two months of the First World War, from the moment France officially declares war and mobilisation is announced, until early September 1914. His diary tells of the hope and the carnage; the long journeys and endless nights; the friendships, the horror and the hunger; the family he misses, the news he is anxious to receive; the sound of gunfire and the pain of swollen feet; the fear and the courage in the trenches; the sickness and the injuries; and a very narrow escape from death. In this striking black and white graphic novel adaptation of a 100-year-old diary, the events of the first two months of WWI are vividly brought to life. This is one man's personal account of war, silhouetted against the historical events of 1914 that formed and transformed the world we live in today.

 

There are 96 pages in this book. It is in graphic novel format. This book was published 2014 by Phoenix Yard Books .

Daniel Pennac, novelist and thriller writer, is one of France's most celebrated authors. Widely regarded as a literary phenomenon, his books for both adults and children have been translated into over thirty languages and are read all over the world. Sarah Ardizzone, a translator and journalist, was born in Brussels in 1970. She won the 2005 Marsh Award for Literature in Translation for Eye of the Wolf by Daniel Pennac, and is currently promoting translation as a creative process in schools. Born in Paris, Barroux spent much of his childhood in North Africa. He later attended art school in France. He has created several children's picture books including Where's the Elephant?, Where's the Starfish? and Welcome. His books have received widespread critical acclaim and been nominated for several awards including the Kate Greenaway Medal.