Bear on the Homefront

During World War II, ten thousand children from British cities were sent to live with host families away from the war zone. Bear on the Homefront retells the true story of two “guest children,” Grace and William Chambers, who cross the ocean and meet Aileen Rogers, a nurse serving on the homefront. With her is Teddy, the stuffed bear whose trip to the front lines of World War I is chronicled in A Bear in War. Using archival images and Aileen Rogers’ wartime diary, Stephanie Innes and Harry Endrulat recreate William and Grace’s journey by train to their host family’s prairie farm. Aileen, seeing William’s anxiety, lets her stuffed friend stay with the little boy throughout the train ride and ultimately throughout the war. Brian Deines’s soulful oil paintings capture the spirit of the war years, communicating both the loneliness of children separated from their families and the joyful conclusion when Grace, William and Teddy all return to their homes again.