Small Feet on the Run

You may know much about World War II, but did you ever wonder how children lived through this man-made disaster that killed twenty-nine million civilians in Europe? Read about eighteen ordinary children whose childhood changed due to extraordinary events not of their making. How did they make sense of their world? They collected and traded bomb shrapnel instead of baseball cards; instead of watching cartoons, they ran out in the morning to see what last night's bombs had destroyed; and boys played with live ammunition like your sons do with Fourth of July firecrackers. Read these true stories and share them with a friend. Ponder the bravery of the ten-year old girl traveling alone to her faraway home. Worry about the three-year-old watching her house burn. Cheer for the fearless boy who provides food for his family or wonder how it was possible that, in the middle of a large bombed-out city, a four-year-old brings a live chicken to her mother. These stories also talk about overwhelming fear, bottomless sadness, the heartwarming kindness of strangers and enemy soldiers, as well as childhood joys. At the end you may agree with the motto of the last chapter ""Never Again War."" ""In Small Feet on the Run, Sieglinde Martin gives a voice to the youngest victims of World War II, helping each of her storytellers describe the perils of growing up in the midst of war: displacement, hunger, loss of home and family, worry about beloved fathers and brothers on the front. Children then and now experience all these and more when their homelands are at war. Ms. Martin's narrative urges us all to redouble our efforts to beat the weapons of war into plowshares."" --Melonie Buller, President, Central Ohioans for Peace Born at the beginning of WWII and educated in post-war Germany, Sieglinde Martin came to the U.S. in 1964. A pediatric physical therapist by profession, she previously published the book Teaching Motor Skills to Children with Cerebral Palsy and Similar Movement Disorders: A Guide for Parents and Professionals that has been translated into several languages. Now retired, she has lived in Columbus, Ohio, for over fifty years. She is the mother and grandmother of four children and grandchildren, and is a member of Central Ohioans for Peace.