Veterans Day is observed on November 11th in the United States to honor all military veterans who have served in the United States Armed Forces. It was known as Armistice Day until 1954. Armistice Day was the anniversary of the end of World War I. Veterans Day provides a great learning opportunity for your homeschool.
Picture books about Veterans Day are pretty easy to find to teach younger children about this important day. But, what if you have older children and would like to incorporate some Veterans Day chapter books into your learning? Well, here is a list of books to choose from!
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Veterans Day Chapter Books for Elementary School
I Survived The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis
This is the first of two I Survived books about World War II that would be appropriate for a Veterans Day study. It follows a boy through the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. If your children want to learn more about this time in history, they can also read What Was Pearl Harbor?.
I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis
This book highlights the Normandy invasion, the largest seaborne invasion in history. The book, What Was D-Day? would make a good companion to it.
Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers by James Buckley Jr.
A veteran story that has come to light over the last couple decades is that of the Navajo code talkers that served our country during World War II. There is a book below that is great for middle and high schoolers, but now there is one from the Who Was…? series to bring this story to upper elementary kids as well.
Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? by Sherri L. Smith
This book from the Who Was…? series shares the story of a group of African-American military pilots that graduated from the first African-American flight program in the US and helped win the war.
Dogtag Summer by Elizabeth Partridge
Partridge’s book shares the struggles that Vietnam veterans faced when returning home through the eyes of a daughter who is half Vietnamese.
War Stories by Gordon Korman
This popular author share a story of a boy and his grandfather returning to France where his grandfather fought in World War II.
Veterans Day Chapter Books for Middle and High School
Half a Man by Michael Morpurgo
This short book about a grandson and his World War II veteran grandfather shows how having a family member who has served in war affects the whole family.
Dogtag Summer by Elizabeth Partridge
The Unsung Hero of Birdsong by Brenda Woods
This novel tackles the difficult subject of how Black Americans who served in World War II were treated when they returned home.
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac
This has been one of our favorite books in our homeschool. Not only do you learn about a unique group of Marines in World War Two, but you also learn about the Native American boarding schools of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Often families choose the Thanksgiving holiday to learn about Native Americans so this book can be a good segue into that.
Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
This piece of fiction offers a look into more recent military operations. Sunrise Over Fallujah follows a new army recruit’s experience during Operation Iraqi Freedom. This can give our children a greater appreciation for many of the veterans in their lives.
Walter Dean Myers also wrote Fallen Angels about the Vietnam War and Invasion about World War II.
The Finest Hours: The True Story of the US Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman
The Finest Hours offers students a look at the heroism of a lesser known branch of the military, the US Coast Guard.
Semper Fido (Dog Tags series) by
This is the first in a series of four books about how dogs assist soldiers in times of war. This book is set during a deployment of the US Marines to Afghanistan.
Other books in the series: Strays is set during the Vietnam War; Prisoners of War during World War II; and Divided We Fall is set during the Civil War.
Tides of War: Blood in the Water by C. Alexander London
The author of Dog Tags has also written two books in the Tides of War series. The first involves the Navy SEALS and continues to involve animals in the story line.
The second book in the Tides of War series is Honor Bound.
Great Falls by Steve Watkins
This book tackles some of the mental health challenges veterans may deal with when they come home from war and how they affect the whole family. This book is best for high schoolers.
If you want to easily assign your children some fun comprehension tasks while they read any of these books, print out this grid of Nine Reading Assignments.
Do you have any books to add to this list? Please share!
