Children’s books explore restoration amidst tragedy of Halifax Explosion
HALIFAX — A fresh generation of children’s books is finding the grace notes in Halifax’s worst moment — a massive explosion that levelled much of the city 100 years ago but inspired acts of kindness that still resonate.
The books vary on how closely they approach the widespread injury and nearly 2,000 deaths that resulted from the massive Halifax Explosion of Dec. 6, 1917, when a French munitions ship collided with a Belgian relief vessel in the city’s wartime harbour.
Still, as hurricanes and earthquakes batter communities around the globe, the retelling of Halifax’s time of trial tend to come together in their desire to find hope amidst the floods and rubble.
“I didn’t want to dwell on the destruction, but more on the help that people gave,” said Marijke Simons, author of The Flying Squirrel Stowaways: from Nova Scotia to Boston (Nimbus), one of two picture books for young children that recall how Boston residents rushed north in a train to assist.